VENICE 



GRANT ALLEN'S 
HISTORICAL GUIDES 







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VENICE 



Fcnp. 8vo, green cloth, -with rounded corners to 
slip in the pocket, price 3^. (id. net each. 

I. PARIS. By Grant Allen 

{Second Edition). 

II. FLORENCE. By Grant Allen 

(Second Edition). 

III. THE CITIES OF BELGIUM. 

By Grant Allen. 

IV. VENICE. By Grant Allen, 

V. THE CITIES OF NORTHERN 
ITALY. By Geo. C. Williamson, Litt.D. 

VL THE UMBRIAN TOWNS. By 

Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Cruickshank. 



LONDON : GRANT RICHARDS 

9 HENRIETTA STREET, W.C 



VENICE 



GRANT ALLEN'S HISTORICAL GUIDE 
BOOKS TO THE PRINCIPAL CITIES OF 
EUROPE TREATING CONCISELY AND 
THOROUGHLY OF THE PRINCIPAL 
HISTORIC AND ARTISTIC POINTS 
OF INTEREST THEREIN 




NEW YORK 

A. WESSELS COMPANY 

1902 



1 ■; 



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^ INTRODUCTION 



C 



THE object and plan of these Historical Handbooks is 
somewhat different from that of any other guides at 
present before the public. They do not compete or clash 
with such existing works ; they are rather intended to 
supplement than to supplant them. My purpose is not to 
direct the stranger through the streets and squares of an 
unknown town towards the buildings or sights which he 
may desire to visit ; still less is it my design to give him 
practical information about hotels, cab fares, omnibuses, tram- 
ways, and other every-day material conveniences. For such 
details, the traveller must still have recourse to the trusty 
pages of his Baedeker, his Joanne, or his Murray. I desire 
rather to supply the tourist who wishes to use his travel as a 
means of culture with such historical and antiquarian in- 
formation as will enable him to understand, and therefore to 
enjoy, the architecture, sculpture, painting, and minor arts of 
the towns he visits. In one word, it is my object to give the 
reader in a very compendious form the result of all those 
inquiries which have naturally suggested themselves to my 
own mind during thirty-five years of foreign travel, the solution 
of which has cost myself a good deal of research, thought, and 
labour, beyond the facts which I could find in the ordinary 
handbooks. 

For several years past I have devoted myself to collecting 
and arranging material for a set of books to embody the idea 



6 INTRODUCTION 

I had thus entertained. I earnestly hope they may meet a 
want on the part of tourists, especially Americans, who, so far 
as my experience goes, usually come to Europe with an honest 
and reverent desire to learn from the Old World whatever ot 
value it has to teach them, and who are prepared to take an 
amount of pains in turning their trip to good account which 
is both rare and praiseworthy For such readers I shall call 
attention at times to other sources of information. 

These guide-books will deal more particularly with the Great 
Towns where objects of art and antiquity are numerous. 
In every one of them, the general plan pursued will be some- 
what as follows. First will come the inquiry why a town ever 
gathered together at all at that particular spot — what induced 
the aggregation of human beings rather there than elsewhere. 
Next, we shall consider why that town grew to social or political 
importance and what were the stages by which it assumed its 
present shape. Thirdly, we shall ask why it gave rise to that 
higher form of handicraft which we know as Art, and towards 
what particular arts it especially gravitated. After that, we 
shall take in detail the various strata of its growth or develop- 
ment, examining the buildings and works of art which they 
contain in historical order, and, as far as possible, tracing" the 
causes which led to their evolution. In particular, we shall 
lay stress upon the origin and meaning of each structure as 
an organic whole, and upon the allusions or symbols which 
its fabric embodies. 

A single instance will show the method upon which I intend 
to proceed better than any amount of general description. 
A church, as a rule, is built over the body or relics of a 
particular saint, in whose special honour it was originally 
erected. That saint was usually one of great local importance 
at the moment of its erection, or was peculiarly implored 



INTRODUCTION 7 

against plague, foreign enemies, or some other pressing and 
dreaded misfortune. In dealing with such a church, then, I 
endeavour to show what were the circumstances which led to 
its erection, and what memorials of these circumstances it still 
retains. In other cases it may derive its origin from some 
special monastic body — Benedictine, Dominican, Franciscan — 
and may therefore be full of the peculiar symbolism and his- 
torical allusion of the order who founded it. Wherever I have 
to deal with such a church, I try as far as possible to exhibit 
the effect which its origin had upon its architecture and decora- 
tion ; to trace the image of the patron saint in sculpture or 
stained glass throughout the fabric ; and to set forth the con- 
nection of the whole design with time and place, with order 
and purpose. In short, instead of looking upon monuments 
of the sort mainly as the product of this or that architect, I 
look upon them rather as material embodiments of the spirit 
of the age — crystallizations, as it were, in stone and bronze, in 
form and colour, of great popular enthusiasms. 

By thus concentrating attention on what is essential and 
important in a town, I hope to give in a comparatively short 
space, though with inevitable conciseness, a fuller account than 
is usually given of the chief architectural and monumental 
works of the principal art-cities. In dealing with Paris, for 
example, I shall have little to say about such modern con- 
structions as the Champs Elysees or the Eiffel Tower ; still 
less, of course, about the Morgue, the Catacombs, the waxworks 
of the Musee Grevin, and the celebrated Excursion in the Paris 
Sewers. The space thus saved from vulgar wonders I shall 
hope to devote to fuller explanation of Notre-Dame and the 
Sainte Chapelle, of the mediaeval carvings or tapestries of 
Cluny, and of the pictures or sculptures in the galleries of the 
Louvre. Similarly in Florence, whatever I save from descup 



8 INTRODUCTION 

tion of the Cascine and even of the beautiful Viale dei Colli 
(where explanation is needless and word-painting superfluous), 
I shall give up to the Bargello, the Ufifizi, and the Pitti Palace. 
The passing life of the moment does not enter into my plan ; 
[ regard each town I endeavour to illustrate mainly as a 
museum of its own history 

For this reason, too, I shall devote most attention in every 
case to what is locally illustrative, and less to what is merely 
adventitious and foreign. In Paris, for instance, I shall have 
more to say about truly Parisian art and history, as embodied 
in St. Denis, the tie de la Cite, and the shrine of Ste. Genevieve, 
than about the Egyptian and Assyrian collections of the Louvre. 
In Florence, again, I shall deal rather with the Etruscan re- 
mains, with Giotto and Fra Angelico, with the Duomo and the 
Campanile, than with the admirable Memlincks and Rubenses 
of the Ufifiizi and the Pitti, or with the beautiful Van der Goes 
of the Hospital of Santa Maria. In Bruges and Brussels, 
once more, I shall be especially Flemish ; in the Rhine towns, 
Rhenish ; in Venice, Venetian. I shall assign a due amount 
of space, indeed, to the foreign collections, but I shall call 
attention chiefly to those monuments or objects which are of 
entirely local and typical value. 

As regards the character of the information given, it will be 
mainly historical, antiquarian, and, above all, explanatory. 
I am not a connoisseur — an adept in the difficult modern 
science of distinguishing the handicraft of various masters, in 
painting or sculpture, by minute signs and delicate inferential 
processes. In such matters, I shall be well content to follow 
the lead of the most authoritative experts. Nor am I an art- 
critic — a student versed in the technique of the studios and the 
dialect of the modelling-room. In such matters, again, I shall 
attempt little more than to accept the general opinion of the 



INTRODUCTION 9 

most discriminative judges. What I aim at rather is to expound 
the history and meaning of each work — to put the intelligent 
reader in such a position that he may judge for himself of the 
aesthetic beauty and success of the object before him. To 
recognise the fact that this is a Perseus and Andromeda, that 
a St. Barbara enthroned, the other an obscure episode in the 
legend of St. Philip, is not art-criticism, but it is often an almost 
indispensable prelude to the formation of a right and sound 
judgment. We must know what the artist was trying to repre- 
sent before we can feel sure what measure of success he has 
attained in his representation. 

For the general study of Christian art, alike in architecture, 
sculpture, and painting, no treatises are more useful for the 
tourist to carry with him for constant reference than Mrs. 
Jameson's Sacred and Legendary Ari, and Legends of the 
Madonna (London, Longmans). For works of Italian art, both 
in Italy and elsewhere, Kugler's Italian Schools of Painlmg is 
an invaluable vade-mecmn. These books should be carried 
about by everybody everywhere. Other works of special and 
local importance will occasionally be noticed under each par- 
ticular city, church, or museum. 

I cannot venture to hope that handbooks containing such 
a mass of facts as these will be wholly free from errors and 
misstatements, above all in early editions. I can only beg 
those who may detect any such to point them out, without 
unnecessary harshness, to the author, care of the publisher, 
and if possible to assign reasons for any dissentient opinion. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Introduction , . 5 

How TO Use these Guide-Books 12 

I Origins of Venice 13 

II Byzantine Venice : St. Mark's .... 23 

III Gothic Venice : The Doge's Palace ... 85 

IV Renaissance Venice 97 

V Thk Four Great Plague-Churches . . .103 

A. The Salute 104 

B. San Rocco, and the Scuola di San Rocco . . 107 

C. San Giobbe 112 

D. San Sebastiano . . . . . . .116 

VI The Academy 120 

VII The Doge's Palace 156 

VIII The Grand Canal 198 

IX The Friars' Churches 215 

A. SS. Giovanni e Paolo 216 

B, The Frari . .229 

X Minor Sights 241 

A. San Giorgio degli Schiavoni . . . .242 

B. San Zaccaria 247 

C. The Palladian Churches 251 

D. The Residuum 255 

Appendix 262 

11 



HOW TO USE THESE GUIDE- 
BOOKS 

'Y ^ H E po7'tio7is of this book intended to be read at 
J- leisure at home, before proceeding to explore each 
toivn or i?ionumentj are e?iclosed in brackets \thus\. 
The portion relatiftg to each principal object should 
be quietly read and digested before a visits and re- 
ferred to again afterwards. The portion to be read on 
the spot is made as brief as possible, and is printed in 
large legible type, so as to be easily read in the dim light of 
churches, chapels, afid galleries. 772<? key = note words ^/'^ 
printed in bold type, to catch the eye. Where objects are 
numbered, the number's used are ahvays those of the latest 
official catalogues. 

Baedeker's Guides are so printed that each principal por- 
tion can be detached entire fro?n the volunte. The traveller 
who uses Baedeker is advised to carry in his pocket one 
such portion, referrijtg to the place he is then visiting, to- 
gether with the plan of the town, while carrying this book 
in his hand. These Guides do not profess to supply prac- 
tical information. 

Individual works oj merit are distinguished by an aster- 
isk (*)y those of very exceptional interest and merit have 
two asterisks. Nothing is noticed in this book which does 
not seem to the writer worthy of attention. 

See little at a time, and see it thoroughly. Never attempt 
to "^<?" any place or any monumejit. By following strictly 
the order in which objects are noticed in this book, you will 
gain a conception of the historical evolution of the town 
which you cannot obtain if you go about looking at churches 
a?id palaces hap-hazard. The order is arranged, not quite 
chronologically, but on a definite plan, which greatly facili- 
tates comprehension of the subject. 



IS 



I 

ORIGINS OF VENICE 

THE very name of Venezia or Venice by which we 
now know the city of the lagoons is in its origin 
the name, not of a town, but of a country. Upon the 
proper comprehension of this curious fact depends a proper 
comprehension of much that is essential in the early history 
of the city and of the Republic. 

The rich and fertile valley of the Po had for its com- 
mercial centre from a very remote period the town of 
Mediolanum or Milan. But its port for the time being, 
though often altered, lay always on the Adriatic. That sea 
derives its name, indeed, from the town of Hatria, (later 
corrupted into Adria,) which was the earliest centre of the 
Po valley traffic, Hatria and its sister town of Spina, how- 
ever, gave way in imperial Roman times to Padua, and 
again in the days of the lower empire to Aquileia, near 
Trieste, and to Aitinum, on the mainland just opposite 
Torcello. Padua in particular was a very prosperous and 
populous town under the early emperors ; it gathered into 
itself the surplus wealth of the whole Po valley. 

The district between Verona and the sea, known to the 
Romans as Venetia, seems in the most ancient times of 
which we have any record to have been inhabited by an 
Etruscan population. Later, however, it was occupied by the 
Veneti, an Illyrian tribe, whose name still survives in that of 
Venice and in the district known as II Veneto. But much 
Etruscan blood must have remained in the land even after 
their conquest : and it is doubtless to this persistent Etrus- 
can element that the Venetians owe their marked artistic 
faculty. The country of the Veneti was assimilated and 

13 



14 ORIGINS OF VENICE [i. 

Romanised (by nominal alliance with Rome) in the third 
century before Christ. Under the Romans, Venetia, and 
its capital Padua, grew extremely wealthy, and the trade of 
the Lombard plain (as we now call it), the ancient Gallia 
Cisalpina, was concentrated on this district. 

The Po and the other rivers of the sub-Alpine region bring 
down to the Adriatic a mass of silt, which forms fan-like 
deltas, and spreads on either side of the mouth in belts or 
bars, (the Lido,) which enclose vast lagoons of shallow 
water. These lagoons consist near the mainland of bask- 
ing mudbanks, more or less reclaimed, and intersected by 
natural or artificial canals ; further out towards the bars, 
or Lidi, they deepen somewhat, but contain in places 
numerous low islands. During the long troubles of the 
barbaric irruptions, in the 4th, 5th, and subsequent cen- 
turies, the ports of the lagoons, better protected both by 
land and sea than those of the Po, began to rise into com- 
parative importance ; on the south, Ravenna, on the north, 
Altinum, acquired increased commercial value. The slow 
silting up of the older harbours, as well as the dangers of 
the pohtical situation, brought about in part this alteration 
in mercantile conditions. 

When Attila and his Huns invaded Italy in 453, they 
destroyed Padua, and also Altinum ; and though we need 
not suppose that those cities thereupon ceased entirely to 
exist, yet it is at least certain that their commercial im- 
portance was ruined for the time being. The people of 
Altinum took refuge on one of the islands in the lagoon, 
and built Torcello, which may thus be regarded in a certain 
sense as the mother-city of Venice. Subsequent waves 
of conquest had like results. Later on, in 568, the Loni> 
bards, a German tribe, invaded Italy, and completed the 
ruin of Padua, Altinum, and Aquileia. The relics of the 
Romanised and Christian Veneti then fled to the islands, to 
which we may suppose a constant migration of fugitives had 
been taking place for more than a century. The Paduans, 
in particular, seem to have settled at Malamocco. The 
subjugated mainland became known as Lombardy, from its 



I.] ORIGINS OF VENICE 15 

Germanic conquerors, and the free remnant of the Veneti, 
still bearing their old name, built new homes in the flat 
islets of Rivo Alto, Malamocco, and Torcello, which were 
the most secure from attack in their shallow waters. This 
last fringe of their territory they still knew as Venetia or 
Venezia; the particular island, or group of islands, on 
which modern Venice now stands, bore simply at that time 
its original name of Rivo Alto or Rialto, that is to say, the 
Deep Channel. 

The Romanised semi-Etruscan Christian Republic of 
Venezia seems from the very first to have been governed by 
a Dux or Doge, (that is to say, Duke,) in nominal subjection 
to the Eastern Emperor at Constantinople. The Goth and 
the Lombard, the Frank and the Hun, never ruled this last 
corner of the Roman world. The earliest of the Doges 
whose name has come down to us was Paulucius Anafestus, 
who is said to have died in 716, and whose seat of govern- 
ment seems to have been at Torcello. Later, the Doge 
of the Venetians apparently resided at Malamocco, a town 
which no longer exists, having been destroyed by sub- 
mergence, though part of the bank of the Lido opposite still 
retains its name. Isolated in their island fastnesses, the 
Venetians, as we may now begin to call them, grew rich and 
powerful at a time when the rest of Western Europe was 
sinking lower and lower in barbarism ; they kept up their 
intercourse with the civilised Roman east in Constantinople, 
and also with Alexandria, (the last then Mahommedanised,) 
and they acted as intermediaries between the Lombard King- 
dom and the still Christian Levant. When Charlemagne in 
the 8th century conquered the Lombards and founded the re- 
newed (Teutonic) Roman Empire of the West, the Venetians, 
not yet established in modern Venice, fled from Malamocco 
to Rivo Alto to escape his son. King Pepin, whom they 
soon repelled from the lagoons. About the same time they 
seem to have made themselves practically independent of 
the eastern empire, without becoming a part of the western 
and essentially German one of the Carlovingians. Not 
long after, Malamocco was deserted, partly no doubt owing 



l6 ORIGINS OF VENICE [l. 

to the destruction by Pepin, but partly also perhaps because 
it began to be threatened with submergence : and the 
Venetians then determined to fix their seat of government on 
Rivo Alto, or Rialto, the existing Venice. For a long time, 
the new town was still spoken of as Rialto, as indeed a 
part of it is by its own inhabitants to the present day ; but 
gradually the general name of Venezia, which belonged 
properly to the entire Republic, grew to be confined in 
usage to its capital, and most of us now know the city only 
as Venice. 

Pepin was driven off in 809. The Doge's palace was 
transferred to Rialto, and raised on the site of the existing 
building (according to tradition) in 819. Angelus Partici- 
potius was the first Doge to occupy it. From that period 
forward to the French Revolution, one palace after another 
housed the Duke of the Venetians on the same site. This 
was the real nucleus of the town of Venice, though the 
oldest part lay near the Rialto bridge. Malamocco did not 
entirely disappear, however, till 1107. The silting up of the 
harbour of Ravenna, the chief port of the Adriatic in late 
Roman times, and long an outlier of the Byzantine empire, 
contributed greatly, no doubt, to the rise of Venice : while 
the adoption of Rivo Alto with its deep navigable channel 
as the capital marks the gradual growth of an external 
commerce. 

The Republic which thus sprang up among the islands of 
the lagoons was at first confined to the little archipelago 
itself, though it still looked upon Aquileia and Altinum as 
its mother cities, and still acknowledged in ecclesiastical 
matters the supremacy of the Patriarch of Grado. After 
the repulse of King Pepin, however, the Republic began to 
/ recognise its own strength and the importance of its position, 
and embarked, slowly at first, on a career of commerce, and 
then of conquest. Its earliest acquisitions of territory were 
on the opposite vSlavonic coast of Istria and Dalmatia; 
gradually its trade with the east led it, at the beginning of 
the Crusades, to acquire territory in the Levant and the 
Qreek Archipelago. This eastern extension was mainly 



I.] ORIGINS OF VENICE 1 7 

due to the conquest of Constantinople by Doge Enrico 
Dandolo during the fourth Crusade (1204), an epoch-making 
event in the history of Venice which must constantly be 
borne in mind in examining her art-treasures. The Httle 
outlying western dependency had vanquished the capital of 
the Christian Eastern Empire to which it once belonged. 
The greatness of Venice dates from this period ; it became 
the chief carrier between the east and the west ; its vessels 
exported the surplus wealth of the Lombard plain, and 
brought in return, not only the timber and stone of Istria 
and Dalmatia, but the manufactured wares of Christian 
Constantinople, the wines of the Greek isles, and the 
oriental silks, carpets, and spices of Mahommedan Egypt, 
Arabia, and Bagdad. The Crusades, which impoverished 
the rest of Europe, doubly enriched Venice : she had the 
carrying and transport traffic in her own hands ; and her 
conquests gave her the spoil of many eastern cities. 

It is important to bear in mind, also, that the Venetian 
Republic (down to the French Revolution) was the one part 
of western Europe which never at any time formed a 
portion of any Teutonic empire, Gothic, Lombard, 
Frank, or Saxon. Alone in the west, it carried on unbroken 
the traditions of the Roman empire, and continued its 
corporate life without Teutonic adulteration. Its peculiar 
position as the gate between the east and west made a deep 
impress upon its arts and its architecture. The city re- 
mained long in friendly intercourse with the Byzantine 
realm ; and an oriental tinge is thus to be found in all 
its early buildings and mosaics. St. Mark's in particular 
is based on St. Sophia at Constantinople ; the capitals of 
the columns in both are strikingly similar ; even Arab in- 
fluence and the example of Cairo (or rather of early 
Alexandria) are visible in many parts of the building. 
Another element which imparts oriental tone to Venice is 
the number of imported works of art from Greek churches. 
Some of these the Republic frankly stole ; others it carried 
away in good faith during times of stress to prevent them 
from falling into the hands of the Mahommedan con- 

V.. V. R 



l8 ORIGINS OF VENICE [i. 

querors. The older part of Venice is thus to some extent 
a museum of applied antiquities ; the bronze horses from 
Constantinople over the portal of St. Mark's, the pillars 
of St. John of Acre on the south fagade, the Greek lions 
of the Arsenal, the four porphyry emperors near the Doge's 
Palace, are cases in point ; and similar instances will meet 
the visitor in the sequel everywhere. Many bodies of 
Greek or eastern saints were also carried off from Syria or 
Asia Minor to preserve them from desecration at the hands 
of the infidel ; and with these saints came their legends, 
unknown elsewhere in the west ; so that the mosaics and 
sculptures based on them give a further note of orientalism 
to much of Venice. It may also be noted that the intense 
Venetian love of colour, and the eye for colour which 
accompanies it, are rather eastern than western qualities. 
This peculiarity of a pure colour-sense is extremely notice- 
able both in Venetian architecture and Venetian paint- 
ing. 

The first Venice with which the traveller will have to 
deal is thus essentially a Romanesque= Byzantine city. 
It rose during the decay of the Roman empire, far from 
barbaric influences. Its buildings are Byzantine in type ; 
its mosaics are mostly the work of Greek or half-Greek 
artists ; its Madonnas and saints are Greek in aspect ; 
often even the very lettering of the inscriptions is in Greek 
not in Latin. And though ecclesiastically Venice belonged 
to the western or Roman church, the general assemblage 
of her early saints (best seen in the Atrium and Baptistery 
of St. Mark's) is thoroughly oriental. We must remember 
that during all her first great period she was connected 
by the sea with Constantinople and the east, but cut off 
by the lagoons and the impenetrable marshes from all 
intercourse with Teutonised Lombardy and the rest of 
Italy. In front lay her highway : behind lay her moat. 
At this period, indeed, it is hardly too much to say that 
(save for the accident of language) Venice was rather a 
Greek than an Italian city. 

I strongly advise the tourist, therefore, to begin by 



I.] ORIGINS OF VENICE K) 

forming a clear conception of this early Greekish Venice 
of the loth, nth, 12th, and 13th centuries, and then go 
on to observe how the later Italianate Venice grew slowly 
out of it. Mediaeval Italy was not Roman but Teutonised : 
influences from this Teutonic Italy were late in affecting 
the outlying lagoon-land. 

The loeginnings of the change came with the conquests 
of Venice on the Italian mainland. Already Gothic art 
from the west had feebly invaded the Republic with the 
rise of the great Dominican and Franciscan churches (San 
Giovanni e Paolo and the Frari) : the extension of Venice to 
the west, by the conquest of Padua and Verona (1405) com- 
pleted the assimilation. Thenceforward the Renaissance 
began to make its mark on the city of the lagoons, though 
at a much later date than elsewhere in Italy. I recommend 
the visitor accordingly, after he has familiarised himself 
with Byzantine Venice^ to trace the gradual encroachment 
of Gothic arty and then the Renaissance 7novement. This 
Guide is so arranged as to make such a task as easy as 
possible for him. But while chronological comprehension 
is thus important, a strictly chronological method is here 
for many reasons both difficult and undesirable. I have 
tried rather to suggest a mode of seeing Venice which will 
unfold the story in the most assimilable order. 

It is best, then, to begin with the architecture, sculpture, 
and mosaics of St. Mark's ; in connection with which the 
few remaining Byzantine palaces ought to be examined. 
The Byzantine period is marked by the habit of sawing 
up precious marbles and other coloured stones, (imported 
for the most part from earlier eastern buildings,) and using 
them as a thin veneer for the incrustation of brick build- 
ings ; also, by the frequent employment of decorations 
made by inserting ancient reliefs in the blank walls of 
churches or houses. The eastern conquests oi Venice 
made oriental buildings a quarry for her architects. The 
Gothic period is marked by a peculiar local style, showing 
traces of Byzantine and Arab influence. The early Renais- 
sance work at Venice is nobler and more dignified than 



20 ORIGINS OF VENICE [l. 

elsewhere in Italy. The baroque school of the 17th century, 
on the other hand, is nowhere so appalling. 

Venice was essentially a commercial Republic. Her 
greatness lay in her wealth. She flourished as long as 
she was the sole carrier between east and west ; she 
declined rapidly after the discovery of America, and of 
the route to India round the Cape of Good Hope, which 
made the Atlantic supersede the Mediterranean as the 
highway of the nations. As Antwerp, Amsterdam, and 
London rose, Venice fell. The reopening of the Mediter- 
ranean route by the construction of the Suez Canal has 
galvanised her port into a slightly increased vitality of 
recent years ; but she is still in the main a beautiful fossil- 
bed of various strata, extending from the loth to the 
17th centuries. 

The rise and progress of Venetian painting will be 
traced in detail when we come to consider the Academy ; 
but its earliest origins and first motives must be looked 
for in the ancient mosaics of St. Mark's and of Murano. 

Whoever enters Venice by rail at the present day ought 
to bear in mind that he arrives (across the lagoon) by 
the back door. The front door was designed for those 
who came by sea ; there, Venice laid herself out to receive 
them with fitting splendour. The ambassadors or mer- 
chants who sailed up the navigable channel from the mouth 
of the Lido, saw first the Piazza, the Piazzetta, the two 
great granite columns, the campanile, St. Mark's, and the 
imposing fagade of the Doge's Palace, reinforced at a later 
date by the white front of San Giorgio Maggiore and the 
cupolas of the Salute. This, though not perhaps the oldest 
part of the town, is the nucleus of historical Venice ; 
and to it the traveller should devote the greater part of 
his attention. I strongly advise those whose stay is limited 
not to try to see all the churches and collections of the 
city, but to confine themselves strictly to St. Mark's, the 
Doge's Palace, the Academy, the Four Great Plague- 
Churches, and the tour of the Grand Canal, made slowly 
in a gondola. 



I.] ORIGINS OF VENICE 21 

Those who have three or four weeks at their disposal, 
however, ought early in their visit to see Torcello and 
Murano— Torcello as perhaps the most ancient city of the 
lagoons, still preserved for us in something like its antique 
simplicity, amid picturesque desolation ; Murano as helping 
us to reconstruct the idea of Byzantine Venice. It is above 
all things important not to mix up in one whirling picture late 
additions like the Salute and the Ponte di Rialto with early 
Byzantine buildings like St. Mark's or the Palazzo Loredan, 
with Gothic architecture like the Doge's Palace or the Ca' 
Doro, and with Renaissance masterpieces, like the Libreria 
Vecchia or the ceilings of Paolo Veronese. Here more 
than anywhere else in Europe, save at Rome alone, though 
chronological treatment is difficult, a strictly chrono^* 
logical comprehension of the various stages of growth is 
essential to a right judgment. 

Walk by land as much as possible. See what you see in 
a very leisurely fashion. Venice is all detail ; unless you 
read the meaning of the detail, it will be of little use to you. 
Of course the mere colour and strangeness and picturesque- 
ness of the water-city are a joy in themselves ; but if you 
desire to learn, you must be prepared to give many days to 
St. Mark's alone, and to examine it slowly. 

I take first the group of buildings and works of art which 
cluster around the front-door of Venice, the Piazza and the 
Piazzetta. These adequately represent the Byzantine, the 
Gothic, and the Renaissance periods. When you have thus 
familiarised yourself with the keynotes of each great style, 
as locally embodied, you will be in a position to understand 
the rest of Venice. 



The patron saints of Venice are too numerous to cata- 
logue. A few only need be borne in mind by those who pay 
but a short visit of a month or so. The Venetian fleets in 
the early ages brought home so many bodies of saints that 
the city became a veritable repository of holy corpses. 
First and foremost, of course, comes St. Mark, whose name, 
whose effigy, and whose winged lion occur everywhere in 



22 ORIGINS OF VENICE [i. 

the city ; to the Venetian of the middle ages he was almost, 
indeed, the embodiment of Venice. He sleeps at St. Mark's. 
The body of St. Theodore, the earlier patron, never en- 
tirely dispossessed, lay in the Scuola (or Guild) of St. Theo- 
dore, near the church of San Salvatore (now a furniture 
shop). But the chief subsidiary saints of later Venice were 
St. George and St. Catherine, patrons of the territories 
of the Republic, to the first of whom many churches are 
dedicated, while the second appears everywhere in numerous 
pictures and reliefs. The great plague-saints— Sebastian, 
Roch, Job — I have treated separately later. These seven 
at least the tourist must remember and expect to recognise 
at every turn in his wanderings. The body of St. Nicholas, 
the sailors' saint, lay at San Niccolo di Lido, though a rival 
body, better authenticated or more believed in, was kept at 
Bari. 

The costume of the Doges, and the Doge's cap ; the 
Venetian type of Justice, with sword and scales ; the almost 
indistinguishable figure of Venetia, also with sword and 
scales, enthroned between lions ; and many like local 
allegories or symbols, the visitor should note and try to un- 
derstand from the moment of his arrival. 



Though I give the whole account of St. Mark's at once, 
for convenience sake, I do not advise the reader to see it all 
at once and consecutively. Begin with the first parts 
described in this book, but intersperse with them visits to 
the Academy, the Plague - Churches, and other buildings. 
St. Mark's is best seen in the afternoon, when you will not 
needlessly disturb the worshippers. The Academy closes 
at 3, and must therefore be seen in the morning. Occa- 
sional trips to the Lido, Chioggia, etc., vary the monotony and 
strain of sight-seeing. 



II 

BYZANTINE VENICE! ST. MARK'S 

F'^ I ^HE primitive patron of the town of Rivo Alto, and 
L J^ of the Republic of the Venetians, was the martyr 
St. Theodore, whose ancient figure still tops one of the 
columns in the Piazzetta. A church dedicated to this 
ancient saint is said to have occupied (nearly) the site of St. 
Mark's before the 9th century. But in the year 819, (or 813,) 
when the seat of government of the Republic was fixed in 
Rivo Alto, the first Doge's Palace was built on the spot 
where its successor now stands, and a Ducal Chapel 
was erected beside it. This chapel was still in all prob- 
ability dedicated to St. Theodore. The body of St. Mark, 
however, was then preserved at Alexandria ; though, after 
the conquest of Egypt by the Arabs in 640, the church of St. 
Mark's in which it was kept was exposed to continual insults 
from the victorious infidel. In 829, the Khalif decided to 
destroy the church, for the sake of its marbles. Some V^ene- 
tian merchants who happened to be then at Alexandria (a 
proof of the early maritime commerce of the town) succeeded 
in carrying off the body of the saint, and conveying it to 
Venice. On its arrival, it was received in state and housed 
in the Ducal Chapel ; while, in order to show due honour to 
the Evangelist, St, Theodore was deposed from his place as 
patron, and St. Mark was made the tutelary saint of the 
Republic. The old church of St. Theodore was also de- 
stroyed, and a new church of St. Mark's, the predecessor of 
the present building, erected in its place. 

This first church was burnt down in 976, and with it, 
humanly speaking, the body of St. Mark ; though its 



24 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

miraculous preservation and subsequent rediscovery are 
matters of history. Towards the close of the loth century, 
the existing edifice was begun after the fire : it continued 
to be erected under Byzantine architects for nearly a hundred 
years. The body of the great church as we now see it be- 
longs essentially to this early period. But it has been 
largely remodelled and altered in its decorations, especially 
as regards the pinnacles of the exterior and the mosaics, 
during the Gothic reaction. The original portions, which 
will be pointed out in detail in the sequel, belong to the pure 
Byzantine style, and closely resemble parts of St. Sophia 
at Constantinople, on which edifice the church was mainly 
modelled. About the close of the 14th and first half of the 
15th century, when the Gothic style had superseded the 
Romanesque and the Byzantine, several Gothic adornments 
were incongruously added, in the shape of pinnacles and 
pointed gables above the chief arches. In the i6th century 
and afterward, many of the beautiful old mosaics were ruth- 
lessly destroyed, and replaced by jejune Renaissance com- 
positions, which have no decorative value, and which jar 
with the architecture. But as a whole the church is stili 
essentially Byzantine= Romanesque, with only just suf- 
ficient intrusion of the Gothic element to add a certain touch 
of bizarre extravagance. 

The walls are of brick, but they are coated or incrusted 
throughout with thin slabs of many-coloured marble and 
alabaster ; the slender columns are of jasper, serpentine, 
verd-antique, porphyry, and other rare stones, mostly de- 
rived from earlier buildings ; and the whole is profusely 
adorned with gold and mosaic. To the mediaeval Venetian, 
St. Mark was not only the patron but the embodiment of 
Venice ; wherever the Venetian fleets went, they brought 
home in triumph columns and precious stones and reliefs 
and works of art for the further beautifying of the great 
shrine of their protector. St. Mark's is thus a museum of 
collected fragments, as well as a gallery of Venetian 
mosaic- work. It? richness of colour is one of its greatest 
attractions. 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 25 

Nevertheless, throughout the whole flourishing period of 
Venice, the shrine of the Evangelist was officially nothing 
more than the domestic chapel of the Doge's Palace. 
The relatively unimportant church of San Pietro di Castello 
remained the cathedral till 1807, at which date St. Mark's 
superseded it. 

In examining St. Mark's remember especially three things. 
First, it is the shrine of the body of St. Mark the 
Evangelist, the protector of the Republic, whom every 
Venetian regarded as the chief helper of Venice in times of 
trouble. Second, it is the private chapel of the Doge's 
Palace. Third, it is essentially an oriental building, as 
befits what was really an outlying western fragment of the 
eastern empire. 

Very many visits should be paid to St. Mark's. It would 
be impossible within the limits of these Guides adequately 
to describe all the architectural points, the mosaics, and the 
sculpture ; but in the succeeding account I have tried Jirst 
to call attention to the main features, and then to treat 
in detail a few portions of the building as specimens, giv- 
ing the reader some main clues by means of which he may 
work out the meaning of the rest of the building for himself 
on similar principles. St. Mark's is of course by far the most 
important thing to see at Venice, and as much time as 
possible should be devoted to repeated visits. Do not run 
about after minor churches before you have thoroughly 
grasped the keynotes of this marvellous building. 

The motto of Venice is " Pax tibi Marce, Evangelista 
meus"— "Peace to thee, Mark, my Evangelist." It will 
occur often on buildings or pictures. 

Whenever you visit St. Mark's, take your opera glass.] 

General Impression. 

St. Mark's is not in mere size a very large church ; but it 
is so vast, in the sense of being varied and complex, that it 
can only be grasped in full after long study. I advise 
you, therefore, to begin by walking round and through the 
building, in order to obtain a comprehensive idea of the 



26 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

architectural ground-pla?i^ both from without and within, 
before you proceed to the examination in detail. 

In general shape, as shown in the annexed rough dia- 
gram, the church is a Greek Cross, of four equal arms, duly 
oriented; that is to say, with its facade to the West, and 




GENERAL DIAGRAM OF ST. MARK S. 
The True Church or Greek Cross is marked by a darker outline. 

its High Altar and Presbytery at the East End. Carefully 
bear in mind this fact of its orientation ; it will save you 
much trouble. 

In addition, however, to the real or inner church, 
which has thus the shape of a cross with four equal arms, 
the West Arin is girt on its three outer sides by an Atrium 
or Vestibule, which reaches only to the height of the first 
floor or Gallery. This Atrium is open in its Western and 
Northern branches, and, like the church itself, is gorgeously 
decorated throughout with mosaics. The Southern branch 
of the Atrium, on the other hand, has been enclosed, in 
order to form the Baptistery and the Cappella Zen. This 
outer Vestibule, with the parts cut off from it, is shown in 
the diagram by a thin?ter line. Recollect that the lower 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 2J 

part of the facade, on all three of its exposed sides, is 
formed entirely by this outer or vestibular portion ; the 
upper facade, on the contrary, belongs to the Greek Cross, 
or true church of the interior. Hats may be worn in the 
Vestibule. 

Above the Atrium, and around the whole western arm of 
the inner church, runs an outer gallery. On this gallery, 
over the Main Portal of the outer and lower fagade, stand 
four magnificent antique * Bronze Horses, forming a 
quadriga., or team of four, for a chariot. These horses are 
so important in fixing the date of various portions of the 
church, that I will briefly describe them here. They make 
the only known remaining example of an ancient quadriga., 
and opinions differ as to their date and origin. They are 
believed by some antiquaries to be Greek works of the school 
of Lysippus, but others hold that they are of Roman origin. 
It is almost certain that they once adorned the triumphal 
arch of Nero, whence they were transferred to that of 
Trajan and other subsequent emperors. When Constantine 
founded Constantinople, he took them there to adorn the 
Hippodrome of his New Rome. In 1204, Doge Enrico Dan- 
dolo conquered Constantinople, and the Podestk Zen sent 
these trophies to Venice, where they were set up on the Ducal 
Chapel in the place where you now see them. This date of 
1204 is very important for the identification of the period of 
certain mosaics. The horses remained where Dandolo set 
them up till 1797, when Napoleon, having extinguished the 
Republic, took them to Paris, and employed them to decor- 
ate the summit of the triumphal arch he had erected in the 
Place du Carrousel. In 181 5, however, on the final establish- 
ment of the European peace, the Emperor Francis I, of 
Austria, to whom Venetia was assigned, restored them to 
St. Mark's. They are noble specimens of ancient sculpture, 
though defectively cast, portions having been hammered in 
to conceal the imperfections. They should be carefully 
examined, from above and from below, by those who are 
interested in antique sculpture. An ugly inscription on the 
main archivolt of the central door beneath records, not their 



28 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

early history, but the trivial fact of their restitution by the 
Austrians. 

The inner or true church itself consists of four nearly 
equal Arms and a rectangular Central Portion. Over each 
Arm, and also over the Central Portion, stands a Dome, of 
which there are thus five in all, without counting the minor 
cupolas. I strongly advise you to enter the church on your 
first day in Venice, and, spend one afternoon in looking about 
it, so as to form general impressions, before you set out 
upon your detailed examination. The following brief notes 
may assist you in shaping these impressions. 

The West Arm consists of a Nave and Aisles, the latter 
separated from the former by glorious Byzantine arcades, 
carrying an open gallery. The Nave has a Dome, and two 
large Arches span its outer and inner ends. It is entered 
from the Vestibule by the Door of St. Mark. The L. or N, 
Aisle is entered from the Vestibule by the Door of St. Peter, 
who, as we shall see hereafter, was regarded as St. Mark's 
spiritual father. The R. or S. Aisle is entered from the 
Vestibule by the Door of St. Clement. Each of these doors 
has above it, externally, a mosaic of the saint whose name it 
bears. 

The Central Area has a Dome covered with ancient 
mosaics. To R. and L,, at its East End, are two magnifi- 
cent early Pulpits, or ambones. A Screen topped by four- 
teen statues separates it from the choir or Presbytery. 

The Transepts, like the Nave, are provided with Aisles, 
which are separated from the main portion of each Transept 
by arcades carrying open galleries. These galleries answer 
to, or foreshadow, the Triforium of Northern cathedrals. 

The N. or L. Transept has a Dome, also covered with 
mosaics. It is approached trom the N. branch of the Vesti- 
bule by the Door of St. John. Its East End forms a 
separate Chapel, formerly dedicated to St. John, but now 
to the Madonna. The little Chapel at the end of the 
W. Aisle of this Transept is that of the Madonna dei 
Mascoli. 

The S. or R, T?'ansept has ^Iso a Dome, with very few 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 29 

mosaic figures. Its East End contains the Chapel of the 
Holy Sacrament, where the Host is exposed, with a light 
continually burning before it. This was formerly the 
Chapel of St. Leonard. 

The East Arm of the cross consists of three portions, 
each with an Apse at its extremity. 

The Central Part of the E. End, behind the Screen bear- 
ing the fourteen mediaeval statues, is the Presbytery. 
It contains the High Altar, covered by a rich canopy, which 
is supported by four curiously-sculptured columns. Under 
this High Altar rests the Body of St. Mark, to whom the 
whole church is dedicated. In the semicircular Apse at the 
back is another altar, that of the Holy Cross. 

The Apsidal Chapel to the L. of the Presbytery is that of 
St. Peter. The Apsidal Chapel to the R. of the Presbytery is 
that of St. Clement. Each is approached by a small vesti- 
bule or ante-chapel. 

Do not attempt to fix all these points at once in your 
memory, but endeavour to gain at first sight as clear a con- 
ception as you can of the four main arms of the church, 
with their aisles or side-chapels. Remember that the whole 
building falls into five main portions— the Centre, and the 
North, South, East, and West branches, each marked by 
its own Dome. Other points will become clearer in the 

sequel. 

I do not think it well for the visitor to attempt to grasp the 
general scheme of the decoration till after he has ex- 
amined much of the church in detail. I therefore postpone 
the consideration of the meaning and relation of the various 
parts till we have inspected together many of the mosaics and 
sculptures. Those however who prefer to understand these 
leading principles beforehand, and to use them as a clue on 
their way, will find them on page 76. 

Fuller information about St. Mark's as a whole will be 
found in Canon Pasini's Guide de la Basilique St Marc : an 
admirable account of the mosaics is given in Com. Sac- 
cardo's Les Mosaiqiies de St. Marc. Both books can be 
procured at Ongania's in the Piazza (S. W. corner). 



30 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

The Exterior. 

Begin your detailed examination of the exterior with the 

West Front 

or Main Facade. The best time to examine this fagade is 
towards sunset on a bright afternoon, when it glistens in the 
full rays of the sun, All the detail is then better seen. If 
you cannot obtain such an afternoon for your first examina- 
tion, go over the whole again whenever such occurs. 

Start first with the lower portion, or false fagade formed 
by the Atrium. 

Set out by taking a seat at the base of the northernmost 
Flag-Staff, the one close to the gilded Clock-Tower with the 
big clock. Here you will observe that the lower stage con- 
sists of five large arches, flanked by two much smaller and 
irregular ones. The central arch is higher than the others, so 
that it impinges upon the terrace below the four Bronze 
Horses. Its lunette is filled by a late and intensely feeble 
mosaic of the Last Judgment ( 1 836). The remaining lunettes 
contain the history of the removal of the body of St. Mark 
from Alexandria to Venice. Though (with one glorious ex- 
ception) late, and artistically of little interest, these mosaics, 
unhappily substituted for the fine early ones, should be ex- 
amined in detail as embodying the legend of the foundation 
of this church. 

The series begins to the right, ist Arch (R.) on the 
under-side of the arch itself, the body of St. Mark removed 
from his church in Alexandria ; (L.) it is placed in a basket 
and covered with leaves ; (centre lunette) the authorities 
examine it, but being told that it is pork, withdraw in aver- 
sion : all of 1660. ind Arch (R.) under-side, the arrival of the 
body at Venice on the Venetian ship ; (centre lunette) it is 
received at the quay with religious processions ; (L.) the body, 
on a bier, is carried ashore at Venice : all of 1660. 3r<^ 
Arch^ beyond the great doorway : Reception of the body 
in state by the Doge and Senators ; a finely-coloured work 
of the 1 8th century, designed by Rizzi, but inappropriate 
for its place, ^th Ai-ch^"^ a magnificent early 13th-century 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 3 1 

mosaic, representing the Church of St. Mark into which the 
body is brought. Examine it closely to show the state of the 
church at that date. The central lunette above the great 
doorway, you can see, was then worthily occupied by a 
colossal Byzantine figure of Christ. Beneath this figure, two 
ecclesiastics bear the sacred body on a bier into the church ; 
around stand princes and people, symbolising perhaps the 
various kings, queens, and distinguished persons who have 
visited the shrine since the reception of the Evangelist's body 
at Venice. All the mosaics of the facade were once of this 
type : the i6th century, in its pride of accurate drawing 
and perspective, replaced them by the present insipid substi- 
tutes. You can see copies of the originals in the great 
Bellini picture at the Academy. 

Now, sit again at the base of the Flag-Staff as before, and 
xnXh. an opera-glass compare the 13th-century church (in 
the mosaic) with the existing edifice, looking from one to the 
other. This will enable you to see how much of it is primi- 
tive Byzantine-Romanesque, and how much is Gothic ad- 
dition. There were then no pinnacles or gables. Observe 
that the four Bronze Horses were already in their place, 
which fixes the date of this mosaic as shortly after 1204. 

Next take a seat at the base of the central FIag=Staff, 
and observe six reliefs, let into the walls of the lower facade, 
between the arches. The two to L. and R. of the main door- 
way, respectively, represent the two warrior saints and 
protectors of Venice, George and Theodore, seated on cross- 
legged stools or thrones : early 13th-century sculpture. 
The two next represent (L.) the Madonna, with her arms 
expanded in the Byzantine fashion, and her Greek mono- 
gram, " Mother of God" ; (R.) the angel Gabriel bearing a 
wand or narthex. These two form between them an 
Annunciation, separated, as is often the case, by wide 
spaces : 12th to 13th century sculpture. The two last, 
at either end, are antique or semi-antique, and represent two 
of the Labours of Hercules ; they are probably not later than 
the 6th century. 

Taking the lower facade in further detail, you observe, to 



32 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

the extreme L. a small portico, with a stilted arch, contain- 
ing a beautiful decorative design of birds facing one another. 
(See Goblet D'Alviella's Migratioji of Symbols) It is sup- 
ported below by one lily-capitalled column, the columns 
above being more numerous, as is usual at St. Mark's and 
in Byzantine architecture generally, thus giving a tree-like 
effect of trunk and branches. The upper columns of this 
portico are of porphyry. Between the two to the R. is a water- 
bearer. Proceeding S., towards the Piazzetta, notice in the 
ist doorway you reach, beneath the 13th-century mosaic 
of the church, a beautiful arch with an Archangel on horse- 
back (Rev. xix. II?). Below it are the symbols of the four 
Evangelists, in the following order : Luke, bull ; Mark, lion ; 
John, eagle ; Matthew, angel. This order is common in 
Venice. Beneath the exquisite lattice-work is a lintel, with 
scenes from the Life of Christ, very obscure, the most de- 
cipherable being the Adoration of the Magi, the Annunciation 
to the Shepherds, and the miracle at Cana : at either end, a 
deacon with a censer. Observe in detail the extraordinary 
variety of the columns and their capitals in this doorway. The 
2nd doorway is square in general outline, with similarly 
decorated columns, and a centre resembling jewel -work. 
The 3rd doorway contains the maitt portal., flanked on 
either side by a singularly beautiful group of columns. In 
the lunette immediately above the square door is a relief of 
an angel and a sleeping Evangelist. It probably represents 
the legend that as St. Mark was passing the lagoon, on his 
way from Aquileia to Alexandria, an angel notified to him in 
a dream that his Basilica would be erected on this spot. 
(The legend here described will be more fully illustrated 
hereafter in the Cappella Zen.) The \st archivolt above 
this figure is decorated with grotesques of the 13th 
century, apparently meaningless. The 2nd archivolt has on 
its under surface the twelve months, (with zodiacal signs,) 
thus represented, from L. to R. : January, carrying home a 
tree ; February, warming his feet, with the fishes ; March, a 
warrior (Martius) with the ram ; April, carrying a sheep, 
with the bull ; May, seated, and crowned with flowers by two 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 33 

maidens, with the heads of the twins ; June, reaping, with 
the crab : in the keystone, Christ enthroned in the firmament 
as ruHng the seasons : then, July, mowing ; August, taking 
a siesta, with the virgin ; September, the vintage, with 
the scales ; October, digging ; November, catching birds ; 
December, killing pigs. On the outside are 8 Beatitudes, 
Religion, and 7 Virtues (3 theological, and 4 cardinal). The 
main or -^rd archzvoli, surrounding the mosaic of the Resur- 
rection, has on its under surface the handicrafts of Venice, 
reading thus from R. to L. : the Fishermen, the Smith, the 
Sawyer, the Woodcutter, the Cooper or Cask-maker, the 
Barber-Surgeon, the Weaver; in the keystone, Christ the 
Lamb ; the Mason, the Potter, the Butcher, the Baker, the 
Vintner, the Shipwright ; and last of all, in a di fiferent style, 
a doubtful figure with crutches, which may represent old age, 
or, lest any class he left out, the cripples and the helpless. 
The outer surface of this archivolt contains eight Prophets 
with scrolls, among exquisite foliage of acanthus and ball 
pattern. The next or 4th doorway resembles the 2nd, but 
has a fine bronze gate with heads in relief. The last or 
5th doorway has decorative work, and very beautiful 
capitals to some of its columns. I defer consideration of the 
little portico on the extreme R., till after we have examined 
the northern facade. 

Now step back into the Piazza and look at the upper or 
true facade, above the Gallery of the Four Horses. Its 
central arch is filled by one great window. The other 4 
arches contain four late, weak, and uninteresting mosaics 
(17th century) from the History of Christ after the Crucifixion. 
Unlike the series of the Translation of St. Mark, they read 
from L. to R. ist Itmette, the Descent from the Cross ; 2nd 
lunette, Christ in Hades delivering Adam and Eve and the 
Patriarchs ; 2>^d lunette, the Resurrection ; ^th hmette, the 
Ascension. All these mosaics, with those of the lower 
lunettes beneath them, replace two sets of four finer early 
compositions, of which one only (that of the Byzantine 
church) now remains to us. Observe the decorative 
superiority of this last, and its suitability to the architecture 

G. V. C 



34 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

it adorns. Between these lunettes are functionally useful 
figures of water-carriers with rain-spouts, probably symbolis- 
ing the Four Rivers of Paradise. 

So far the main fabric of the facade represents the original 
Byzantine-Romanesque building, (except in so far as 
the mosaics have been altered,) and corresponds with the pic- 
ture of the church given in the 13th century mosaic. The 
turreted pinnacles and false gables above are later Gothic 
additions of the 15th century. The false gables stand over 
the centre of the main arches, and are mere thin screens of 
decoration, with no roof behind them. Examine them all in 
order. 

On the topmost gable of all, in the very centre, stands 
St. Mark himself, bearing his Gospel, in the place of honour 
as patron saint of this church. Below him, on either side, 
are three angels, with gilt metal wings, in veneration, among 
rampant foliage. The uppermost pair swing censers. The 
2nd pair hold holy-water vessels and sprinklers. The 3rd 
pair have their arms folded in adoration of the Evangelist. 
Beneath them, on a blue firmament set with golden stars, is 
the gilt emblem of the Evangelist, the winged lion, holding 
a book inscribed with the Venetian motto. Pax tibi^ Marce, 
evangelista ineus^ words spoken to him from heaven at this 
spot on his way from Aquileia. The four other gables, 
above the centres of the arches, have statues of four great 
warrior saints of Christendom, emblematic of the position of 
Venice as champion of the faith against the Infidel in the 
east — a point of great importance at the period when these 
Gothic additions were made to the primitive building. The 
two nearest St. Mark are (L.) St. George, with the red-cross 
shield, and the dragon, above the mosaic of Christ in Hades ; 
and (R.) St. Theodore with his dragon, above the Resurrec- 
tion. These are the two subsidiary patrons of the Republic. 
To the extreme left, above the Deposition, stands (I think) 
St. Proculus, holding a banner ; to the extreme right, St. 
Demetrius. (Perhaps St. Demetrius, L., and St. Procopius 
or St. Mercurius, R.) All are armed with gilt-tipped 
spears. Beneath each figure half-lengths of four Prophets, 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 35 

holding rolls of their prophecies, emerge among rampant and 
rather flamboyant foliage. 

The intervals between the gables are filled up by six 
httle turrets, or canopied pinnacles. Of these the one to 
the extreme left contains the Archangel Gabriel kneeling ; 
the one to the extreme right, the Blessed Virgin, praying 
at a prie-dieu. These two form together an Annunciation. 
The four central turrets contain statues of the Evangelists 
with their symbols, in the following order from L. to R. : 
Matthew, angel ; Mark, lion ; John, eagle ; Luke, bull. 
Our Lady's pinnacle alone is distinguished by spiral shafts 
to its columns. 

North Front. 

Now, proceed round the corner furthest from the lagoon, 
into the little Piazzetta dei Leoni, so called from the two 
squat and stumpy red marble lions which guard its entrance : 
they were placed here by Doge Alvise Mocenigo in the 
1 8th century. 

As before, examine first the lower or false facade, begin- 
ning at the further end of the little Piazza, near the Patri- 
archal [Archiepiscopal] Palace. 

The first great arch has, to its R. and L., reliefs of the 
Archangels Michael and Gabriel (Raphael comes later). 
Beneath it stands the monument of Daniele Manin, Dictator 
of the abortive Republic of 1848. 

Round the first corner is a colossal figure of St. Chris- 
topher, bearing the infant Christ. Observe the beautiful 
decorative work throughout this portion of the building. 
Here and elsewhere the marble slabs should be closely 
noted. The little fagade to the left of the open door into 
the church has, on the lowest tier, a relief of St. Leonard 
(from his altar within) ; above it, Our Lady, in the Greek 
fashion, with adoring angels ; higher still a decorative relief 
of animals with foliage ; and then, the Evangelists St. John 
and St. Matthew, on either side of a figure of Christ with 
his Greek monogram. 

The main north facade, which commences beyond this 



36 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

angle, contains, first, a Gothic doorway, known as the 
Porta dei Fiori^ somewhat Cairene (or Alexandrian) in type. 
In its lunette is an early relief of Our Lady and St. Joseph 
with the Divine Child, represented as of superhuman size, 
with the ox and ass and adoring angels. Above it, in the 
arch, St. John the Evangelist ; on either side, St. Luke and 
St. Mark. The next arch has only decorative work ; note 
the capitals of the columns, and their superposition in the 
order of three to two. Between this arch and the next 
is an ancient relief of Abraham's Sacrifice ; to the L., 
Abraham and Isaac on their way to the mount ; to the 
R. Abraham ready to slay Isaac, but prevented by the Lord, 
as a hand emerging from a cloud ; in the centre, the ram 
caught by its horns. The corresponding place between 
the next arches is occupied by what I take to be a Pagan 
relief of oriental origin, explained by the Venetian archaeo- 
logists as Cybele drawn by lions, but more probably of 
remote eastern origin, possibly Buddhist. (A learned friend 
says, Alexander lifted by griffons to examine the heavens. 
If so, coloured by Buddhism.) The arch beyond it has 
an early symbolical Greek relief of the 12 Apostles as 
12 sheep, flanked by palm trees. In the centre the 
Lamb and the cross enthroned. (This is the mystic subject 
known as " The Preparation of the Throne " for the Last 
Judgment.) The Greek inscriptions are, " The Holy 
Apostles," " The Lamb." The last relief is that of the 
Archangel Raphael, concluding the series of Archangels 
begun at the opposite end of the facade. 

The upper or true facade has mostly decorative work in 
coloured marble in its arches. The Gothic additions con- 
sist of false crocketed gables with figures of Faith (cross 
and cup), Hope (clasped hands). Charity (bearing a child), 
Temperance (with cup and flagon), and Prudence : the 
Theological Virtues and two Cardinal, not in this order : 
the other two Cardinal are on the south front. The figures 
under the canopied pinnacles are St. Michael the Arch- 
angel and the four Latin Doctors, St. Gregory, St. Ambrose, 
St. Augustine, and St. Jerome, as interpreters of the four 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 37 

Evangelists. (Jerome bears a church to the extreme L. I 
cannot myself discriminate any symbols of the others.) 

South Front. 

The little portico forming part of the West and South 
Fronts is one of the most beautiful elements of the edifice, 
architecturally speakmg. All its columns and capitals 
should be carefully examined. There is a reason for its 
special decoration. It is the most noticeable portion of 
the building, turned towards the Piazza, the sea, and the 
Doge's Palace, and on it the greatest pains have accordingly 
been lavished. The shafts and capitals of its columns are 
exquisitely beautiful. The short red pillar, without, near 
its outer angle, is the Sacred Stone of Venice, the Pietra 
del Bando^ from which the laws of the Republic were pro- 
claimed. 

Theyfrj/ arch of the lower facade as we proceed towards 
the Doge's Palace, contains two griffons, with a calf and a 
child respectively in their paws. (The ugly Renaissance 
pediment between them, forming the back of an altar within, 
harmonises ill with the architecture about.) A little beyond, 
and further out into the Piazza, stand two square Greek 
pillars, brought from the church of St. Saba at Ptolemais 
(St. John of Acre) in 1256 by Lorenzo Tiepolo as a trophy 
of his victory over the Genoese. They are covered with 
fine decorative work and Greek monograms. The Latin 
crosses below were cut on them at Venice. 

The upper or true facade in this portion is the richest 
in ornament of the entire building. Its two great arches 
are filled with elaborate pierced screen-work. In the minor 
central arch is a famous and specially revered mosaic of 
the Madonna, before which two lamps are nightly lit. 
Beneath the base of the two canopies are mosaics of St. 
Christopher with a child, and St. Nicholas of Myra. The 
Gothic additions have, on the gables, Justice, with the 
sword and scales, and Fortitude, tearing open the lion's 
mouth. These conclude the series of Virtues (three Theo- 
logical and four Cardinal) begun on the North Fagade. 



38 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

Under the canopied pinnacles are the two first anchorites 
(R) St. Anthony and (L) St. Paul the Hermit. Study the 
whole of this fagade in detail carefully. 

The projecting angle towards the Doge's Palace also 
forms a portion of St. Mark's, being the outer wall of the 
Treasury. Its time-stained marble coating retains more of 
the antique aspect, unspoiled by restoration, than the re- 
mainder of the building. At the angle is a curious ^porphyry 
relief of four figures embracing one another in pairs, about 
which many idle tales are told, but of whose origin and 
meaning nothing definite is known. They are Greek in 
workmanship, and probably came from Ptolemais. Into 
the chief portion of the wall between them and the main 
doorway of the Doge's Palace (the Porta della Carta)^ 
several decorative reliefs have been let into the wall. 
Especially beautiful are two to the R., with decorative trees 
between *griffons and ^peacocks, as well as one to the L. 
divided crosswise into four panels. 

The rest of the exterior of St. Mark's is for the most 
part hidden by the Doge's Palace and other buildings. 

Interior. 

The examination of the interior is best made by beginning 
with the 

Atrium, 

the mosaics of which are amongst the earliest and finest in 
the building. 

Enter by the Main Central Door of the West Front or 
Principal Facade. Its outer gate is of bronze, with lions' 
heads. Facing you as you enter it is the Inner Doorway, 
in whose lunette is a fine Renaissance mosaic figure of St. 
Mark, of 1545, after a cartoon by Titian. Beneath this, in 
exquisite Byzantine niches, are "^mosaics of Our Lady and 
six Apostles as follows : — Andrew, Thomas, Peter, Paul, 
James, Simon ; and, without niches, Philip and Bartholo- 
mew, less ancient. Under them, on either side of the door, 
come the four Evangelists, named, and with a rhyming 
leonine Latin inscription. 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 39 

Now, proceed to the R. to the first (or furthest) cupola, 
next to the Cappella Zen. The splendid series of mosaics 
which form the main subject of the Atrium, begins here. 
They contain the Old Testament history, down to the time 
of Moses, treated with charming and childish naivete. The 
earliest date from 12 10, but those of the further (or N.) 
portion are somewhat later in type. 

Seating yourself on the low red seat between the two 
doors which give towards the Piazza, look up at the cupola. 
It contains the history of the Creation. Figures in white, 
varying in number, symbolise the days. \\st tier., top or 
centre :] i. The Spirit of God moves upon the face of the 
waters. 2. The Lord creates light and darkness, with the 
First Day. 3. The Lord makes a firmament, with Second 
Day. 4. The Lord divides the waters above from the 
waters below. 5. The Lord makes dry land and plants, 
with Third Day. {7.7td tier?^ i. The Lord makes lights in 
the firmament of heaven, symbolised by a starry globe 
bearing the sun and moon. 2. The Lord makes birds and 
fishes. 3. The Lord makes living things. The angel-like 
figures* symbolise still the number of the days. 4. The 
Lord creates the quadrupeds. (Cross over to the other 
side to see the remainder better.) 5. The Lord makes 
man as a small dark red figure, not yet living. 6. "^The 
Lord rests on the seventh day and blesses it. The six 
days of the week, already past, are symbolised by six 
angels behind the Lord ; the seventh day, personified, 
is receiving the Lord's blessing. 7. The Lord breathes 
into man the breath of life, represented by a small 
winged soul. Note in all these early mosaics the intense 
symbolism. 8. The Lord takes Adam into Paradise, the 
four rivers of which are represented by four recumbent 

^ The surrounding inscriptions in Latin are not from the Vulgate, 
but from the old version known as the Italic, which often varies 
considerably from it, and still more from the English translation. 
Occasionally phrases are shortened or simplified. I therefore give in 
each case their rough sense, not the familiar English words, in order 
the better to illustrate the meaning of the mosaics 



40 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

River Gods with urns — a classical survival. Many minor 
symbolic points too numerous to mention may be noted by 
the curious observer. (Cross over again.) \_3rd h'er.] i. 
Adam names the beasts. 2. The Lord puts Adam into a 
deep sleep, and draws Eve from his side to the R. *3. The 
Lord presents Eve to Adam. 4. The serpent tempts Eve. 
5. Eve plucks the apple, and (twice represented in the same 
scene) gives it to Adam. 6. Adam and Eve clothe them- 
selves with leaves. (Cross over.) 7. The Lord enquires 
of Adam, who answers, " The woman thou gavest unto me," 
etc. 8. The Lord chides Adam and Eve. 9. Adam and 
Eve hear their sentence of punishment. 10. "^The Lord 
gives Adam and Eve garments, (very na'ive.) 12. The Lord 
expels Adam and Eve from the gate of Paradise ; to the R. 
they labour outside the garden. (All these subjects are 
closely copied from Byzantine originals of the 5th century. 
Designs almost identical are found in the very ancient 
illuminated Greek Bible of the Cottonian collection in the 
British Museum.) 

In the pendentives, below the cupola, are four admirable 
*six-winged seraphs. Observe how exquisitely they, and 
the decoration beneath them, are adapted for filling the 
space assigned them. Under these, over the doorway of St. 
Clement^ the history of Genesis is continued. The com- 
mand to be fruitful and multiply ; the birth of Abel, Cain 
to the R. ; Cain and Abel offer sacrifices — with an interesting 
rhyming hexameter.^ Next, on the wall to the R.^ over the 
door into the Cappella Zen — below, L., Cain and Abel go 
forth into the field ; R. Cain kills Abel ; above, L., Cain is 
angry ; R., the Lord (represented here and elsewhere in 
these mosaics by a hand showing from a firmament) enquires 
of Cain what he has done to his brother. In the arch by 
the outer portal is the Curse of Cain. 

1 As this Guide is intended for general use I do not transcribe the 
inscriptions in the text ; but, for the sake of those classical scholars 
who may desire to have their numerous abbreviations simplified, I 
have added the whole of those in the Atrium written out at l^gth in 
an Appendix. 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 4 1 

On the under side of the arch between this first cupola 

and the main portal (door of St. Mark) is represented the 
History of Noah. It begins on the L. side, towards the 
Piazza. Adove, the Lord, as a hand from a firmament, (a 
recurrent point which I will not again notice,) gives the 
command to Noah to build the ark ; then, the building of 
the ark. 2nd tier : the clean and unclean animals enter the 
ark, by sevens and by pairs respectively, yd tier: the 
family of Noah enter the ark. R. side, towards the church ; 
above^ the Deluge ; (observe the rain ;) Noah sends out the 
raven and the dove. '27id tier : the return of the dove with 
the olive branch ; the exit from the ark ; (notice the escaping 
lion.) ird tier : Noah's sacrifice, and the dispersal of the 
animals. 

The lattice work, with inscription beneath, opposite these 
last mosaics, forms the toi7ib of Doge Vitale Falier, made up 
of antique fragments. The great Doge, in whose reign the 
body of St. Mark was miraculously recovered, lies in an 
early Christian sarcophagus. The wife of Doge Vitale 
Michiel occupies a similar tomb beyond the principal door- 
way. 

Continue the series of mosaics beyond the main portal. 
The mosaics on the under side of the arch between the 
door of 5t. Mark and that of St. Peter begin on the inner 
or R. side. Above : Noah plants a vineyard ; the drunken- 
ness of Noah ; Ham sees his father's nudity and announces 
the fact to Shem and Japhet. Below: Shem and Japhet 
cover their father with a robe ; the curse of Ham ; the 
burial of Noah. L. side, the building of Babel ; from 
above, the Lord observes it in the heavens ; then, the Lord 
descends in a glory of angels to confound the languages. 

The next door is that of St. Peter, with his image in a 
lunette above it. This section of the Atrium contains the 
Story of Abraham ; it begins in the second cupola just 
above the head of St. Peter, and reads to the R. The Lord 
chooses Abraham, and the departure of Abraham with a 
great cavalcade of camels from Ur of the Chaldees ; Lot is 
made prisoner by the king of Sodom ; the meeting of Abra- 



42 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii 

ham and Melchisedec, both named ; Abraham's interview 
with the king of Sodom : Sarah brings Hagar to Abraham ; 
the flight of Hagar ; the angel comforts Hagar in the wil- 
derness ; the birth of Ishmael ; the institution of the rite of 
circumcision ; the last subject, very obscure, represents, I 
think, the circumcision of the stranger "bought with 
money." 

In the arch above the figure of St. Peter, L., Abraham 
receives the three angels : R., he ministers to them at table, 
while Sarah at the door of the tent laughs at the prediction 
of the birth of Isaac. Opposite., above the outer door, the 
birth of Isaac ; his circumcision. In the pendentives of this 
cupola are medallions of the Four Greater Prophets. 

The under side of the arch between the 2nd and 3rd 
cupolas has a figure of Justice, (the first of a series of Vir- 
tues which begins here,) and the two pillar saints, St. 
Alipios and St. Simeon Stylites, very curious. 

Corner cupola, the Story of Joseph ; it begins by the 
middle of the z?iner arch, just above the figure of Charity : 
Joseph's dream of the sheaves which bow down to the 
twelfth sheaf ; Joseph tells his dream to his brothers ; the 
brothers complain to Jacob, who reproves Joseph ; Jacob 
sends out Joseph to find his brethren ; Joseph discovers 
them (notice in these two cases his bundle) ; the brethren 
hide Joseph in the well ; the brethren feast, while the 
Ishmaelites approach with their camels ; Joseph is taken 
out of the well ; the brothers sell him to the Ishmaelites ; the 
Ishmaelites with their camels, conduct him to Egypt ; 
Reuben seeks Joseph in the well ; Jacob's sons show their 
father the torn and bloody coat, with the grief of Jacob. 

The pendentives have medallions of four prophets, Eli, 
Samuel, Nathan, Habakkuk, holding rolls with inscriptions. 
I omit notice of many beautiful decorative bands and arches. 
The reader must observe these points for himself. 

The half=donie, at the end of the Atrium, looking N-, 
contains a feeble representation of the Judgment of Solo- 
mon, i6th century. Beneath it is the tomb of Doge Barto- 
lomeo Gradonico (d. 1342), consisting of an early Pisan 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 43 

sarcophagus, with our Lady and Child, St. Mark (his patron 
as Doge), and St. Bartholomew (his personal patron), pre- 
senting the Doge to our Lady ; at the corners, an Annunci- 
ation : beneath is an interesting inscription. Annunciations 
and presentations of the deceased by his patrons are habitual 
features on Venetian tombs. 

The under side of the arch between the corner cupola 
and the first cupola of the northern branch has in its 
centre a good Byzantine figure of Charity ; R., St. Phocas, 
the Greek patron saint of sailors, and therefore very appro- 
priate to a commercial and seafaring city ; L., a pool 
modern figure of St. Christopher wading through the river 
with the infant Christ. 

The first north cupola contains the continuation of the 
History of Joseph. The mosaics of this portion of the 
church are remarkable for their increased story-tellmg 
faculty, in which respect they are unequalled in St. Mark's. 
The story begins just over the figure of Hope, in the arch 
beyond it : Joseph is sold to Potiphar; (observe the costumes 
of the Ishmaelites and the Egyptians ;) Potiphar confides 
his whole household to Joseph ; Potiphar's wife tempts 
Joseph ; Joseph flees from Potiphar's wife, leaving his coat 
behind him ; the woman shows the coat to all her house- 
hold ; arrest of Joseph, who is condemned to imprisonment ; 
Pharaoh, throned and crowned, sends to prison the Chief 
Baker and the Chief Butler ; the dreams of the Baker and 
Butler ; Joseph interprets them. 

The pendentives continue the story, beginning on the R. 
(inner, or south-east) angle : Pharaoh recalls the Chief But- 
ler ; the birds devour the Chief Baker ; Pharaoh's dream ; 
the seven lean kine devour the seven fat ones. 

Arch to the R. (between the Butler and Baker) ; above : 
Pharaoh's dream of the well-favoured and ill-favoured ears ; 
below : Pharaoh asks the interpretation of his dream of his 
wise men ; the Chief Butler tells him of Joseph. 

In the half=donie opposite : feeble and mannered 
Renaissance mosaic of Joseph interpreting Pharaoh's dream. 
Beneath it. Doge Marino Morosini (d. 1253) is buried in an 



44 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

early Christian sarcophagus, the inscription on which alone 
is of his own period. The sarcophagus represents, above, 
in the centre, Christ, flanked by the twelve Apostles ; in the 
lower tier, Our Lady and four saints, undetermined, sepa- 
rated by four censers. The style of the sarcophagus is that 
of the 6th century. 

Under the arch between this cupola and the next, 
in the centre, Hope ; beneath it, a beautiful Byzantine 
mosaic of *St. Agnes, with a modern one of St. Catharine ; 
then, St. Sylvester the Pope, and a Renaissance figure of 
San Geminiano, (whose church at that time occupied part of 
the Piazza,) from a cartoon by Titian. 

I will not so minutely describe the subjects in the next 
two cupolas, as they may by this time, I think, be followed 
by the reader on the strength of his own scriptural know- 
ledge. The 2nd north cupola contains the remainder of 
the History of Joseph, the story in this case beginning at 
the opposite side from what has hitherto been usual, just 
above the figure of Hope in the arch last described. The 
subjects are : Jacob sending his sons to Egypt for corn ; 
Joseph treats them as spies ; Jacob's sons repent ; Simeon 
is bound ; the corn is placed in the granaries ; the birth of 
Ephraim ; the Egyptians clamour for bread ; Joseph opens 
the granaries. 

In the pendentiveSj the four Evangelists. R. lunette ; 
the sons of Jacob empty their sacks ; Jacob sends Benjamin ; 
Benjamin received by Joseph. On the under side of the 
arch which spans this lunette are five Roman saints, 
Cecilia, Cassianus, Cosmo, Damian, Gaudens, and one, 
restored as St. Marinus, but more probably, (since she 
balances Cecilia,) the virgin saint Marina, who dressed as a 
man to preserve her virginity. 

Arch leading to the next section : the " Queen of the 
South," holding her roll of prophecy ; below her, St. 
Nicholas and St. Blaise (Biagio) ; below again, two Domi- 
nican saints, St. Dominic, and St. Peter Martyr. 

In the last cupola is the Story of Moses, which may now 
be safely left to the reader. The pendentives contain four 
prophets. 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 45 

Over the doorway at the end, known as the Doorway of 
St. John, is a large mosaic in a half-dome, representing Our 
Lady with the Child, seated, with her Greek monogram, 
flanked by St. John the Evangelist and St. Mark ; her 
throne and cushion are meant to be characteristically 
Byzantine. But this is a tolerable modern imitation, dating 
from 1840. It lacks the grandeur and solemnity of the 
simple old work. It probably replaces an older mosaic of 
St. John, to whom the door and the chapel opposite (now 
that of the Blessed Virgin) were formerly dedicated. 

The True Interior 
Set out on your examination of the true interior by 
entering at the main portal, or St. Mark's Door, (centre 



dec, 

Jrwrt 




BAPTIS 
TEKX" 

. ■ Font 

^ o 

- ,. ■■"i::\ 

JJoor et of JJooT of < vvfj 

S^ Peter S^liark S'ammt\ ^^^ 



D 



a7-^'^--U--^k7=aD 



GENERAL KEY TO CHAPELS, ETC. 



46 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [u. 

of West Front :) should this be closed, as is sometimes 
the case, enter by one of the other doors, but return at 
07tce to this, at the end of the Nave, or West Arm of the 
Greek Cross. 

In the lunette over the doorway within is a particularly 
beautiful and very early "^mosaic of Our Lord enthroned 
between Our Lady and St. Mark ; the two former have their 
Greek monograms. This is one of the most ancient mosaics 
in the whole basilica. It bears the inscription (in rhyming 
Latin), " I am the gate of life ; through Me, My members 
pass." 

Begin your examination of the Nave and Aisles, (or 
West Arm of the cross,) confining your attention for the 
present to the lower portion^ up to the level of the Gallery. 
(The mosaics above this level are best seen from the Gallery 
itself, which we shall afterwards visit.) The magnificent 
mosaic pavement of marble and other precious stones 
should also be noted in every part of the building ; it pre- 
sents exquisite decorative patterns and animal symbolism, 
the two peacocks with a central object being the most 
frequent design. Part of it has been "restored" and 
straightened with disastrous effect : the older wavy portion 
is exceedingly lovely. Observe also the marble panelling 
or incrustation of the walls. 

Enter the R. or S. Aisle. In the \st arch, on the wall 
to the R., are good early reliefs of Our Lord between Our 
Lady and St. John the Evangelist. On the under side of 
the arch, between this and the next compartment, two ex- 
cellent mosaics of St. Paul the Hermit, in his robe of rushes, 
and St. Hilarion, another of the early ascetics, lean and 
meagre, covered with leaves only. On the R. wall of the 
S. Aisle are fine early mosaics of Our Lady in the centre, 
flanked by four prophets who have prophesied of her, 
named, and holding rolls of their prophecies ; the two 
nearest to her are her royal ancestors, David and Solomon ; 
Isaiah's roll bears the usual inscription, " Behold, a virgin 
shall conceive and bear a son." 

Now cross over the church to the L. or N. Aisle, (north 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 47 

compartment of the West Arm of the cross.) Here, in a 
position answering to that of Our Lady opposite, is a 
beautiful youthful ■'^^Byzantine figure of the beardless Christ, 
(bare-footed,) similarly flanked by four prophets who have 
prophesied of him. The Christ is one of the most beautiful 
forms in the entire building. (In very early art he is always 
represented beardless.) 

The arcade which supports the gallery in the R. or S. 
Aisle has on the under side of its arches other mosaics : 
1st arch, St. Julian and St. Cesarius ; 2nd and 3rd arches, 
decorative. (Observe here the beautiful architecture of the 
gallery, and the marble coating beneath it. On the floor, 
a fine mosaic pattern of peacocks and grapes.) 4th arch, 
St. Felicianus and St. Primus. The L. or N. Aisle is 
similarly decorated, its saints being, ist arch, St. Fermus, 
and St. Felix (standing over a handsome holy-water vessel). 
4th arch, Sts. Nazarius and Felicius. The quaint little 
tabernacle under the 4th arch is the Chapel of the Cruci» 
fix. 

Do not quit this Nave and Aisles until you have grasped 
their relation to the rest of the building. 



Before examining further the main body of the interior, I 
strongly advise you to find the Sacristan and get him to 
unlock the gate of 

The Baptistery, 

which is entered by a door in the Right Aisle, not far from 
the St. Clement entrance. You pay on leaving (see below). 
At least one whole morning — a sunny one if possible — 
should be devoted to examining this chapel and the Cappella 
Zen. Remember that they contain far more objects of 
artistic interest than most northern cathedrals. 

The Baptistery, with the adjoining chapel, formed origin- 
ally a portion of the Atrium, but was shut off from it 
apparently about the 13th century. In the middle of the 
14th century, the great Doge Andrea Dandolo, (elected 
in 1342,) gave a commission to have the whole of the 
Baptistery decorated throughout with mosaics. These 



48 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

works thus form a transitional link between the early 
Byzantine type and the latter Renaissance handicraft which 
we shall observe hereafter, and some specimens of which we 
have already seen in the exterior. In examining the 
Baptistery, therefore, bear these two facts in mind : (ist) 
that its purpose is that of administering baptism, on which 
account it is naturally dedicated to the institutor of the rite, 
St. John the Baptist, while almost all its decorations bear 
direct reference to his life or to the sacrament of baptism ; 
(2nd) that it is a monument of Doge Andrea Dandolo, 
whose tomb it contains, the great prince choosing to buried 
in the midst of this noble memorial of his own munificence. 

The Baptistery consists of three portions: (i) that with 
the font, by which you enter ; (2) that to the left, with the 
altar ; both these have cupolas ; (3) a little vaulted room 
to the R., near the entrance to the Cappella Zen.' 

Begin with the second of these, and examine, first, the 
*mosaic in the lunette above the altar. It represents the 
Crucifixion, with the usual accompanying figures of Our 
Lady and St. John the Evangelist, named above. Water 
and blood (the former unusual) gush from the Redeemer's 
wounds — the water (John xix. 34) clearly symbolising baptism. 
Beyond Our Lady, to the L., stands St. Mark, patron of the 
Church, with his open Gospel ; beyond St. John the Evange- 
list, to the R., St. John the Baptist, patron of the chapel. 
At the foot of the cross, close to the usual skull of Adam, 
kneels Doge Andrea Dandolo himself, the donor, in his 
ducal cap and robe. On either side kneel his Grand 
Chamberlain and a senator. The whole thus tells the story 
of this Baptistery, in this church of St. Mark, decorated by 
this Doge, aided by his subordinates. 

Neglecting for the moment the cupola and other decora- 
tions, look next at the mosaic in the lunette to your R. as 
you face the altar. It begins a series of scenes from the life 
of the Baptist, continued round the three rooms at the same 
level. Its subjects are, from L. to R. : the angel appears to 
Zacharias ; Zacharias is struck dumb ; he goes forth from 
the Temple to the people; he meets his wife, Elizabeth. 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 49 

The story continues in the lunette of the next compartment, 
pierced by a window : birth of St. John the Baptist, a poor 
16th-century work substituted for the fine original. 

Seat yourself on the red marble seat to the R., facing 
south, between the compartment with the font and the 
vaulted room, to examine the next two mosaics on the 2aall 
which gives access to the Cappella Ze)t. L. of the central 
arch, an angel leads the infant John into the wilderness. In 
the lunette, an angel brings him a garment at the approach 
of his ministry. R. of the arch, the preaching of St. John 
the Baptist. 

Now, sit on the seat near the pierced door leading into 
the Piazzetta. On the wall opposite, the Baptism of Christ 
in Jordan : three angels on the bank, as usual in the con- 
ventional representation of this scene, hold the Saviour's 
garments. To the R. of this, on the wall leading into the 
font room, John saying, " I indeed baptise with water," etc. 

Over the 7nain etttrance to the Baptistery, opposite the 
font, "^^the daughter of Herodias dances before Herod ; on 
the R. her mother bids her to ask for the head of St. John 
the Baptist in a charger, which is symbolised by a pointing 
hand and by the princess already, prophetically as it Tcere, 
bearing the head on her own as she dances. This is a piece 
of extreme symbolism ; study well this beautiful composition, 
admirable for its balance, for the vivid pose of the dancing 
princess, for the magnificent robes of the king, queen, and 
courtier, and for the delicious dishes and decorations of the 
table. On the R. a page brings in a dish of fruit. 

The last compartment of the history is in the lunette to the 
L. of the altar, and contains three subjects : (i) the behead- 
ing or decollation of St. John the Baptist, with a fine figure 
of the executioner sheathing his sword ; centre, the princess 
brings the head to the enthroned *Herodias, who sits like a 
Byzantine empress, a type of Worldly pomp and power com- 
bined with wickedness ; to the R., the disciples, in Greek 
ecclesiastical costumes, place the body of the saint in the 
tomb. 

Beneath this mosaic is a carved stone head of St. John 

G.V. D 



50 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

the Baptist, and also, lower down, let into the wall, the slab 
on which he was beheaded, still stained red with the blood 
of his martyrdom. 

Now, examine in further detail the other decorations of 
the compartment containing tlie font. 

The cupola has in its centre a figure of Christ holding a 
scroll with the command, " Go into all the world and preach, 
baptising," etc. Beneath are figures of St. Mark and the 
Apostles obeying this command ; each Apostle is represented 
laying his hands on a naked convert in the font, while a 
sponsor stands by to the R. The inscriptions mention the 
places in which each baptised in the following order, be- 
ginning with St. Mark, (who is over the doorway leading 
into the Baptistery, and is in dark-blue robes :) St. Mark 
baptises in Alexandria ; St. John the Evangelist in Ephesus ; 
James Minor in Judea ; Philip in Phrygia ; Matthew in 
Ethiopia ; Simon in Egypt ; James in India ; Andrew in 
" Chaja " (Achaia) ; Peter in Rome ; Bartholomew in India ; 
Thaddeus in Mesopotamia ; Matthias, in Palestine. In the 
pendentives of this cupola are the "^four Greek Fathers of 
the Church, very noble figures, Saints Athanasius, John 
Chrysostom, Gregory Nazianzen, and Basil, (the last restored, 
but excellent,) habited in picturesque Greek canonicals, and 
each holding a scroll inscribed with a Latin sentence, sup- 
posed to be translated from his writings, relating to baptismal 
regeneration. 

The cupola in the altar compartment is very dark, 
but nevertheless deserves careful study. Sit till your eyes 
are able to see it. It contains in its centre, Christ in Glory, 
ascending, surrounded by a circle of angels. Beneath, just 
over the altar, is the figure of an "^eight-winged seraph bear- 
ing the inscription, Plenifudo scientie, "Fulness of 
Wisdom." The other "^symbolical figures from this point, 
reading to the R., are as follows : Thrones, Dominations, 
Angels, Virtues (with Death conquered). Powers (with the 
devil chained). Principalities, and Seraphim. The whole 
represents Heaven, which is entered by the gate of the 
sacrament of Baptism. In the fendentives are the four 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 51 

Latin Fathers, Gregory, Augustine, Jerome, Ambrose, with 
angels dictating to them. The Latin type of these saints 
should be contrasted with the Greek type of the Greek 
Fathers in the corresponding part of the central cupola. 

Behind the altar is an appropriate relief of the Baptism 
of Christ, with many accessories (Annunciation, Daniel, 
Zacharias, St. Mark, St. Nicholas, etc.) ; R. and L. of it^ 
reliefs of St. George and St. Theodore, both mounted and 
slaying their respective dragons ; these two connect the 
chapel with the minor patrons of Venice. The altar itself 
consists of a huge block of rough granite, from which Christ 
preached to the Tyrians. It was brought from Tyre by 
Doge Domenico Michiel in 1126. 

On the under side of the arch between the altar com= 
partment and the font compartment are two old mosaics 
of the blessed Pietro Orseolo, Doge of Venice, and St. 
Isidore (whose connection with Doge Andrea Dandolo will 
be clearer later). Below are a vile modern mosaic of the 
Blessed Anthony of Brescia, a disgrace to this noble 
chapel, as well as a feeble theatrical 17th-century figure of 
St. Theodore. 

In the place of honour, beneath the central cupola, (with 
Christ sending forth the Apostles to baptise,) stands the 
ancient font, supplied in the i6th century (1545) with a 
good Renaissance bronze cover ; the bronze statue of St. 
John the Baptist in its centre is by Francesco Segala, after 
a design by Sansovino ; the bronze reliefs, with the four 
Evangelists, and scenes from the life of St. John the 
Baptist, are by Tiziano Minio of Padua, and Desiderio of 
Florence. This font, of course, forms the ratson d'etre of 
the whole chapel. 

Opposite the main entrance door is the monument of 
Doge Andrea Dandolo, the donor, a splendid specimen of 
14th-century sculpture. Above, the decumbent figure of 
the Doge, (d. 1354,) serenely beautiful, under a graceful 
canopy ; beneath, on the sarcophagus, the Madonna and 
Child, and an Annunciation in two niches : between them 
two reliefs representing St. John the Evangelist in the 



52 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

cauldron of boiling oil, and the martyrdom of the Doge's 
personal patron, St. Andrew. The angels drawing curtains, 
as usual in tombs of the Pisan school, should also be 
noted. Andrea Dandolo was the last Doge buried in St. 
Mark's : after his time, the Serene Princes were buried at 
San Giovanni e Paolo, or at the Frari. 

The greater part of the small vaulted chamber between 
the font and the Cappella Zen has no direct reference to the 
subject of baptism. It is treated as a vestibule, and there- 
fore appropriately gives the life of Christ before his baptism. 
The under side of the arch which leads to it has mosaics of 
the four Evangelists. On the vaulted roof in the centre, is 
a colossal head of Christ, represented as aged, after the 
later Byzantine fashion, and surrounded by prophets bearing 
rolls of prophecy. Beneath are Episodes of the Infancy : 
on the side towards the Cappella Zen, L., the Three Magi, 
represented as Three Kings, (old, middle-aged, and young,) 
come to Bethlehem to enquire of Herod ; R., the Three 
Kings adore the Child, with Joseph warned by an angel to 
fly into Egypt : both much restored and almost modern. 
(You will find these two scenes represented very similarly 
elsewhere. Note and compare all such subjects.) On the 
side towards the font, L., the Flight into Egypt, the latter 
symbolically represented by a city ; and R., the Massacre of 
the Innocents : in the lunettes at either end, two prophets. 
Near the door, R., is the tomb of Doge Giovanni Soranzo 
(1328) bearing his arms. 

Now pass through the doorway into the 
Cappella Zen. 
This beautiful little chapel, otherwise known as that of 
the Madonna della Scarpa, " Our Lady of the Slipper," (so 
called from her having given her bronze slipper to a poor 
votary, on which it was miraculously turned into gold,) con- 
tains a series of very early mosaics, (12th century.) It was 
afterwards, in the i6th century, converted into a mausoleum 
for Cardinal Zen or Zeno (see below). I will begin by de- 
scribing the original building with its decorations, and pass 
on later to the obtrusive Renaissance additions. 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 53 

In the half^dome, towards the outer Atrium, is a (re- 
stored) figure of Our Lady with her Greek monogram, and 
at the sides two (original) sombre and morose-faced Byzan- 
tine angels. Below, in niches, are the youthful beardless 
Christ, blessing, and four prophets in mosaic, alternating 
with four statues of prophets (13th century). The beautiful 
Byzantine architecture should be carefully noted. 

On the vaulted roof, in the centre, is an early mosaic 
figure of the beardless Christ. Beneath, on either side, is 
the **legend of St. Mark, whose body rested first in this 
chapel after its arrival in Venice. The series begins, ado7^e, 
on the wall of access from the Baptistery, (i) St. Mark 
writes his Gospel at the request of the brethren ; (2) he 
presents it to St. Peter, who orders it to be read in the 
church ; (3) he baptises at Aquileia, one of the chief 
mother-cities of Venice ; de/ow, (4) as St, Mark is sailing 
from Aquileia to Rome, and passes this island, (symbolised 
by water-plants to the R. below,) an angel, flying from a 
very material blue heaven announces to him that his 
Basilica shall be erected on this spot ; (5) St. Peter ap- 
points St. Hermagoras to the Bishopric of Aquileia ; (6) 
St. Mark enters Egypt, (symbolised by a gate,) preaches 
there, and expels demons. Opposite, on the wall towards 
the Piazza : adove—ii) an angel orders St. Mark in a dream 
at Pentapolis (so named to the L.) to sail to Alexandria ; 
(2) St. Mark in the ship on his way to Alexandria, symbol- 
ised by its celebrated Pharos or lighthouse ; (3) St. Mark 
heals the cobbler St. Anianus of a wound made by his 
awl ; ife/ow—{4) St. Mark is arrested by the pagans (called 
"Saracens" in the inscription) while celebrating mass 
at the altar ; (5) he is dragged through Alexandria and 
beaten ; (6) he is buried by his disciples in a sarcophagus. 
In all these mosaics the symbolical character of the buildings 
(exterior or interior) should be noticed ; they are full of 
meaning. This most interesting series is a good epitome 
of the Venetian legend of St. Mark. I have said nothing 
of the exquisite decorative work, which the reader must 
of course notice for himself. 



54 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

In the arch beneath the mosaics last described is an 
old, much-damaged relief, with, below, the Nativity, Joseph, 
Our Lady, the Child in the manger, ox and ass, and 
shepherds ; above, the Flight into Egypt. Two beautiful 
reliefs are also let into the wall near the altar ; L., Byzan- 
tine Madonna and Child, with a Greek inscription, referring 
to the opening of an aqueduct at Constantinople by the 
Emperor Michael Palaeologus and his Empress Irene ; no 
doubt loot of Doge Enrico Dandolo's : R., an Archangel 
(one-half of an old Annunciation). Beneath them, two 
fine red marble lions, with a calf and child, like the 
griffons on the exterior ; probably they once stood at the 
doorway. 

Passing on to the Renaissance additions, notice first 
in the centre the fine bronze *tomb of Cardinal Giovanni 
Battista Zen, or Zeno, nephew of Pope Paul II., who died 
in 1 501, and left the greater part of his immense fortune 
to the Republic of Venice. The Signory in gratitude 
erected this monument. The Cardinal, in bronze, in full 
pontificals, lies on a bronze sarcophagus, supported by 
figures said to represent Faith, Hope, Charity, Prudence, 
Pity, and Munificence ; in the absence of any recognisable 
symbols, I do not pretend to decide which is which. The 
monument is the work of several artists, among them the 
Lombardi, Leopardi, and Camponato. 

The *altar stands under a bronze and marble Renais- 
sance canopy, covering figures of Our Lady (with a gilded 
shoe in memory of the miracle) flanked by St. Peter (to 
represent the Cardinal's double connection with the see 
of Rome) and St. John the Baptist, his name-saint and 
personal patron. These figures are by P. G. Camponato ; 
dated, 1505. At the base, a relief of the Resurrection. 
On either side, poor decorative mosaics, with the Cardinal's 
hat and shield. (It is the ugly back of this altar which 
forms the discordant Renaissance pediment between the 
griffons on the S. fagade.) Notice the Gothic arcade in 
the style of the Doge's Palace, let into the Byzantine arch 
to the L. of the altar. 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 55 

Give the Sacristan half a franc on leaving. 

I have only called attention to the most salient objects 
in these two beautiful and noble chapels, which the visitor 
should revisit more than once and examine at greater 
length for himself. 



Main Church Again. 

Now, enter the north transept. Walk along its wesf 
or L. hand Aisle till you reach a little chapel at the extreme 
end, closed by a low marble screen and an iron gate. This 
is the Cappella dei Mascoli, so called because it was the 
meeting-place of a Guild composed of men alone. It is 
dedicated to Our Lady, and its full title is Cappella della 
MadoiDia dei Mascoli. 

The mosaics on the roof, by Michele Giambono, were 
begun in 1430, and form fine examples of 15th-century 
work ; they show the early Renaissance tendency, and 
are thus transitional between the mosaics of the Byzantine 
school on which we have hitherto for the most part con- 
centrated our attention, and those of the 17th century, 
some examples of which we have already examined on the 
exterior, while many more will occupy our time hereafter. 
The chapel being dedicated to Our Lady, the subjects repre- 
sented on its walls are naturally five of the chief incidents 
in her history. The series begins on the L. side of the roof 
with the Birth of Our Lady ; St. Anna, as always in this 
subject, is in bed ; St. Joachim, close by, superintends the 
washing of the infant ; to the R. are the usual women 
visitors. The whole takes place in a splendid late Gothic 
semi-Renaissance palace. To the R. of this is the Present- 
ation of the Virgin in the Temple, which may be instruc- 
tively compared with the famous Titian in the Academy ; 
L., St. Joachim and St. Anna ; the little Virgin mounts 
the steps and is received by the High Priest at the doors 
of a magnificent late-Gothic Temple, with Renaissance 
decoration. On the window wall.. Annunciation, its com- 
ponent figures divided by the window. On the R. side 



56 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

of the roof; L. compartment, the Meeting of Mary and 
Elizabeth, which takes place (as always) under a splendid 
arcade, entirely Renaissance ; to the R., St. Zacharias is 
seated as a spectator. R. compartment, the Death of Our 
Lady; her new-born soul is received above by Christ, in 
a mandorla of glory. All the elements of the scenes are 
conventional. Study well these five but, alas, very much 
restored mosaics as admirable examples of transitional 
workmanship, unfortunately tampered with. On the centre 
of the ceiling., Our Lady and the Child, with her royal 
ancestor. King David, and her chief prophet, Isaiah. The 
symbolism is full of veneration for the Blessed Virgin. 

The altar-piece consists of a statue of Our Lady, in a 
Gothic niche, between St. Mark and St. John the Evan- 
gelist — the latter being Our Lady's adopted son, and also 
the patron of the N. Transept. 

The centj'al arch of the arcade (supporting the gallery) 
in the Aisle which lies just outside this chapel, has on 
its under side good mosaics of St. Justina and St. Marina. 
On the pier between the chapel and the main transept is 
a fine Byzantine relief of Our Lady. Over the door of 
access from the Atrium into this transept is a figure of St. 
John the Evangelist : this entrance being known as St, 
John's door — Porta di San Giovanni. The mosaics of the 
North Dome, (best seen hereafter from above,) have also 
reference to the history of this Evangelist, displaced to 
make room for the growing cult of the Madonna. 

The Gallery. 

Before proceeding any further with the examination of 
the lower portion of the church, I recommend you next to 
mount the staircase which leads to the Gallery, both ex- 
terior and interior. The sacristan (who is generally lounging 
about the Nave) opens the door (to the L. of the St. Mark 
portal or main entrance from the Atrium into the church) 
for 30 centimes per person. 

Pay beforehand. Mount the steep staircase and go first 
to the Exterior Gallery. Here you can observe well the 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 57 

four famous Bronze Horses., still covered with abundant 
traces of gilding. From this point also you can note the 
sculpture on the archivolt of the inaiit arch., with eight figures 
of patriarchs and prophets, named on the pedestals. 

Proceed first to the R., (with a good view over the Piazza,) 
and turn the corner towards the little Piazza dei Leoni, 
where you can more closely observe the Gothic figures on 
the pinnacles of the North Fagade. They are arranged in 
a somewhat odd order, (beginning from the L.,) of Hope, 
Temperance, Faith, Prudence, Charity, the two cardinal 
virtues being thus interposed between the three theological. 
This is also the best point of view for the decorative detail 
(foliage, prophets, etc.) of the Gothic additions. 

Next, proceed past the Horses again, along the West 
Front, as far as the S.W. corner, over the little portico, 
which gives an admirable view of the South Facade, with 
its Byzantine pillars, pierced stone-work, and Gothic addi- 
tions. Excellent outlook on the Piazzetta and the granite 
columns. As you are passing along the West Front, on 
your way back, observe a little mosaic of St. Nicholas in a 
niche, bearing the name of its artist, Ettore Locatelli, (about 
1605.) 

Now, re= enter the church. The great arch by which 
you enter has on its under side i6th and 17th century 
frescoes in the centre, (after a cartoon by Tintoretto,) repre- 
senting the Last Judgment, or rather what is called the 
Preparation of the Throne preceding it ;— Our Lord between 
the Blessed Virgin and St. John : beneath, the Cross en- 
throned among the instruments of the Passion : Adam and 
Eve and Cherubim adoring. Below, south side, half of the 
Apostles, on clouds ; then, under them. Paradise, with the 
Penitent Thief in the lower right-hand corner : north side., 
above, the rest of the Apostles ; below, the condemned, with 
Judas hanging himself, just opposite the Penitent Thief. 

The arch next to this, and a little higher in level, has the 
Vision of St. John in the Apocalypse, with St. John sleep- 
ing ; the Seven Golden Candlesticks ; the Angels of the 
Seven Churches of Asia ; St. Michael and the Dragon : 



5S BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. 31 ARK'S [ii. 

the Supper of the Lamb ; the Woman clothed with the 
Sun, and other episodes of the Apocalyptic Vision : all by 
the Zuccati. The order and arrangement of all these 
mosaics will be explained hereafter. 

Return back towards the head of the stairs by which you 
entered, and proceed by the outer gallery of the North 
Aisle. Stand above the Z^/?^ nor^A arcade^ in order to view 
the FIRST DOME, — the Dome of the West Arm or Nave. 
Its subject is the Descent of the Holy Ghost. In the 
centre, the Spirit descends as a dove upon the twelve 
Apostles ; below, between the sixteen windows, are various 
races, Parthians, Medes, Elamites, etc., represented each 
by one man and one woman in what the mosaicist believed 
to be the costume of their country ; all are listening to the 
Apostles speaking to them in their own tongues. Beneath, 
in the pendentives, are four majestic angels, singing the 
" Holy, Holy, Holy ! " All these are in the style of the 
13th or 14th century. 

This arcade is also the best point from which to observe 
(with an opera-glass) the beautiful decorative sculptui'e on 
the parapet of the gallery opposite. 

In the arch behind you, (North Wall of the N. Aisle,) 
above the lovely youthful Byzantine Christ, is a representa- 
tion of Paradise, of the 17th century ; over it, the trial and 
martyrdoms of St. Peter and St. Paul : after cartoons by 
Palma. I do not attempt to give all the subjects of these 
later mosaics, partly because of their number, and partly 
also because they are almost always self-explanatory, or 
sufficiently explained by their Latin inscriptions. 

Continue on to the small compartment in the angle 
between the Nave and the North Transept. This is 
the best point of view for one-half of the great arch 
between the Western and Central Domes. It represents, 
below, the Kiss of Judas, and Christ wearing the Crown of 
Thorns : Pilate bears a roll with the question, " Shall I 
crucify your King ?" answered by the Jew to the L,, " Crucify 
Him !" Above, the Crucifixion, with Our Lady, St. John, 
the Maries, and Roman soldiers : Longinus piercing the 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 59 

side, etc. In the centre of the arch, the Maries at the 
Sepulchre. (The remainder of this arch is best seen from 
the opposite gallery.) 

This station is also one of the most satisfactory for 
observing the great "^"^CENTRAL DOME ; its subject is the 
Ascension. In the centre^ Christ is borne aloft in a firma- 
ment by four angels ; beneath, second tier., over the altar 
arch, stands *Our Lady, dark-robed, a most beautiful figure, 
attended by the two angels who say, " Why stand ye 
here?" etc. All round are the twelve Apostles, divided by 
trees of various patterns to symbolise the Mount of Olives. 
The rhyming Latin verses are excellent. Beneath, third 
tier., between the windows, are the Virtues and Beatitudes, 
(beginning to the R. of Our Lady,) in the following order : 
Temperance, Prudence, Humility, Kindliness, Penitence ; 
(to the L. of Our Lady), Courage or Fortitude, tearing open 
the lion's jaw. The other figures will be better observed 
from other standpoints. In the pendentives are the four 
Evangelists writing their Gospels ; beneath them, figures 
of the Four Rivers of Paradise, named as Gyon, Euphrate, 
Tygre, Fison. (Recollect that on the main facade the 
Rivers of Paradise similarly stand beneath and symbolise 
the four Evangelists.) This grand central dome is well 
worthy of the noble position it occupies. 

Now, proceed along the outer gallery of the North 
Transept. The arch overhead tells the story of the Life 
of Our Lady (from the apocryphal Protevangelioii) in 13th- 
century mosaics (see Mrs. Jameson, Lege?tds of the Ma- 
do7i7ia). The centre is occupied by a fine Greek cross. 
The story begins on the L. hand side, and runs round on 
the upper level first. L. side., above, L. compartment, St. 
Zacharias enters the temple to place the wands of the 
various suitors, the budding of one of which will miraculously 
determine the Virgin's husband : R. compartment, the mar- 
riage of Our Lady to Joseph by St. Zacharias ; the little 
Virgin is here represented as a child about twelve years old. 
Opposite, or R. side., above, L. compartment, the Annuncia- 
tion, Mary drawing water at a well meanwhile : R. com- 



6o BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

partment, the High Priest presents Mary with a vase of 
pigment, wherewith to dye the veil of the Temple. Now, 
take the lower levels beginning again on the L. as before : — 
L. compartment, the meeting of Mary and Elizabeth (Mary's 
name ignorantly restored as Hanna) ; R. compartment, 
Joseph, being an austere man, reproaches the Blessed 
Virgin. R. side, L. compartment, the angel warns Joseph 
in a dream that Mary has conceived of the Holy Ghost : 
R. compartment, Joseph and Mary go to Bethlehem to be 
taxed The story continues on the main wall under the 
arch, opposite you, below the windows. The angel warns 
Joseph to flee mto Egypt ; the return to Nazareth (as 
described m the Latm verse ; otherwise, one might have 
taken it for a flight into Egypt) : Christ among the doctors 
in the Temple. This curious series deserves close study. 
Its Latin inscriptions are quaint and crabbed, but full of 
meaning. 

This part of the gallery is also the best point for 
observing the great NORTH DOME, which contains the 
history of St. John the Evangelist (formerly patron of 
this part of the building) : the raising of Drusiana, Stacteus 
on his bed, the overthrow of the temple of Diana, and other 
miracles, told in relatively few figures. (The light here is 
seldom satisfactory.) On the pendentives are the Four 
Fathers of the Church, fine 17th-century mosaics : St. 
Ambrose is early. 

The end wall of the North Transept has a Tree of 
Jesse. The Patriarch lies sleeping below, and from his 
body springs a genealogical tree of the Blessed Virgin, 
Our Lady herself occupying the topmost branches, (i6th 
century.) 

From this point, some more of the Virtues and Apostles 
in the great Central Dome can be well observed. 

Now return along the whole length of this gallery, till 
you are past the spot by which you entered. Mount the 
little steps, cross the wide gallery by the large window, 
(under the Last Judgment,) and enter the gallery of the 
South Aisle. 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST MARK'S 6l 

Pass along this gallery till you reach the middle of the 
arcade which separates the Nave from the South Aisle. 

On the wall opposite you, (above the beautiful Byzantine 
Madonna,) is a large continuous mosaic of the Agony in 
the Garden, representing Christ praying ; His return to the 
sleeping Apostles ; His second prayer ; His chiding of 
Peter ; the angel with the cup (no cup now visible) ; and 
His saying, " Sleep on," all rudely smiple. 

The arch over your head has early mosaics of the 
miracles and deaths of the Apostles. On the L. side of 
the arch, above, St. James the Lesser is cast from the tower, 
(to the L. are the JewSj to the R. the Pharisees,) and the 
Beheading of James. R. of this, burial of the Apostle. 
Below^ St. Philip overthrows the statue of Mars, and drives 
away the demon (in the shape of a dragon) which inhabited 
it, (legend given in my Guide to Florence, Santa Maria 
Novella ) R. of this, he preaches to the Scythians ; further 
R. his burial. On the R. side of the arch, above, St. 
Bartholomew preaches in Upper India ; the priests accuse 
him \ the flaying of St. Bartholomew. Below^ St. Matthew 
preaches in Ethiopia ; the king of the Ethiopians condemns 
St. Matthew to be beheaded at the altar. On the window 
wall, (above the Agony in the Garden,) ill seen except on 
a bright day, St. Simon and St. Jude overthrow the statues 
of the sun and of the moon, and are martyred accordingly. 

Now pass on along the gallery in the same direction till 
you reach the top of the arcade which separates the South 
Transept from its Western Aisle. The west wall of the 
Transept, to your R. as you walk, is covered by one of the 
most ancient and interesting **mosaics in the whole build- 
ing—perhaps the very oldest of all. It represents the 
discovery of the body of St. Mark, which had been lost 
after the fire of 976. When the existing church was com- 
pleted in 1094, and about to be dedicated, the Doge could 
not tell what had become of the sacred corpse, and instituted 
a fast for its recovery. To the L. the Patriarch officiates at 
the altar of this very church, whose interior is seen in rude 
diagrammatic section, with its five domes, arches, and 



62 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

galleries. A deacon holds the book. Behind the Patriarch 
the Doge, (Vitale Faliero,) marked by his title of Dux, bows 
in prayer ; to the extreme L. the Venetian nobles and people 
kneel in attitudes of prostrate supplication. This mosaic 
thus tells the tale of the solemn fast for the recovery of 
the saint's body. The mosaic to the R., evidently a little 
later, shows a similar view of the church, this time rather 
more in perspective, though still in section and very dia- 
grammatic. A pillar to the extreme R. has opened in 
answer to the prayers, and exposed the lost sarcophagus of 
the Evangelist. The Patriarch stands by it ; near him the 
Doge, (again marked as Dux, and with a simple early ducal 
cap, different from that of later ages ;) beyond are nobles, 
ladies, and children, the latter ill represented, one wearing 
a crown. I advise you to study every detail of these ex- 
tremely naive and tentative but very beautiful and touching 
works. They show well the interior of the church in 1094, 
and also the costumes of the period. 

This is likewise a good point from which to view the 
Southern Dome and its surroundings. It contains only 
four figures of four important local saints — St. Blaise, (who 
has two churches in Venice,) St. Leonard, (whose chapel 
was just beneath,) St. Nicholas, (who lies at the Lido,) and 
St. Clement, (whose chapel is one of the external apsidal 
pair.) In the pendentives are figures of four women 
martyrs, known as the Four Great Virgins of Aquileia, 
(mother-city of Venice :) St. Dorothy, (particularly beautiful,) 
St. Thecla, (i6th century,) St. Euphemia, and St. Erasma. 
These mark the connection of Venice with the old Patri- 
archate on the Latin mainland. 

The arch between this dome and the central one has 
mosaics of scenes from the Ministry of Christ ; visible from 
this arcade are, adove, the Temptation in the Wilderness ; 
the Devil, as a black-crowned angel, offers Christ stones to 
make into bread ; places him on a pinnacle of the Temple ; 
leads him on to an exceeding high mountain ; is discomfited, 
and flies away, (with good dramatic action ;) angels come 
and minister unto him. Below^ the Entry into Jerusalem, 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 63 

with children and others casting their clothing before the 
Saviour, who rides on a white ass ; behind him, the Apostles ; 
in front of him, Jews and the gate of Jerusalem. (The in- 
terdependence of all these scenes is explained later.) 

Now, look across the Transept to the wall with three 
windows, just opposite you. This contains, above, uninter- 
esting mosaics of Peter walking on the water, the paralytic 
with his bed, etc. Beneath these are two tiers of subjects 
relating to the life of St. Leotiard^ whose chapel, (now that 
of the Holy Sacrament,) originally stood below, while his 
image is found on the great S. Dome, just above it. These 
works, though late, are interesting through their associations 
with the saint, now dispossessed, who gave his name to the 
transept : they represent, above, St. Leonard held at the font 
by King Clovis ; St. Leonard healing the Queen ; St. 
Leonard distributing alms to beggars : below, St. Leonard 
making water gush forth miraculously ; St. Leonard striking 
off fetters from prisoners, (whose patron saint he was :) St. 
Leonard, after his death, appearing from heaven to rescue a 
prisoner, a figure which may very probably have suggested 
Tintoretto's famous St. Mark, now in the Academy. Re- 
member St. Leonard when you visit the latter. 

The arch above this series of frescoes has transitional 
works, representing Christ's miracles of healing. 

The S. window is a rose or wheel, with Gothic tracery. 
A few other Gothic elements, all intrusive, may be found in 
other parts of the building. 

From the gallery above the arcade which separates the 
South Transept from the chapel (once St. Leonard's) of the 
Holy Sacrament, (if open,) you can see well the other two 
figures in the S. Dome, and the remainder of the arch be- 
tween the Central and S. Domes, representing the Last 
Supper and Christ washing the feet of the Apostles. 
Various parts of this gallery are also good stations for ob- 
serving the other figures of Apostles and Beatitudes (all with 
their names marked) on the great Central DoJJie. You 
must make these out from various points of view, with an 
opera-glass. 



64 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

Utilise these galleries, too, for examining closely (from 
near by) one or two mosaics at the level of the eye, in 

order to perceive the way in which the component pieces are 
arranged, especially in the treatment of faces and garments. 
The technique of the mosaics may be traced onward from 
the early Byzantine style, through the chapel of St. Isidore 
(very peculiar) and that of the Mascoli, to the very perfect 
workmanship of the Sacristy, the culminating point of this 
art, viewed as a handicraft. 

As you return, pause at the corner by the gallery of the 
South Aisle, (near the words " Lapis angularis,") in order to 
observe the other half of the great arch between the 
Western and Central Domes. It represents, above^ Christ 
rescuing souls from Hades, and, below^ the Resurrection, 
with the Maries and the doubting Thomas. The inter- 
dependence and relation of all these subjects will be ex- 
plained later. 

This corner is also the best point of viev/ for the beautiful 

figure of *Gyon (Gihon), one of the Rivers of Paradise, on 

the pendentives of the Central Dome. Other such points 

I leave to the reader. Stand long and examine each detail 

separately. 

North Transept. 

After having thus observed the mosaics visible from the 
Gallery, you may profitably resume your examination of the 
i:round floor of the church. 

Begin with the North Transept. Here, we have already 
looked at the West Aisle and the little chapel of Our Lady 
of the Mascoli. The central portion of the Transept con- 
tains nothing of special interest except the Dome. The 
East Aisle of the Transept, however, (formerly the Chapel 
of St. John,) has been railed off as the Chapel of Our Lady, 
who is at the present day (I speak of visible facts only) the 
central object of veneration in the whole Basilica. The 
entire space in front of this chapel is therefore constantly 
thronged with votaries from morning till night, under condi- 
tions which make it difficult to examine the works of art it 
contains without grave indelicacy. Look at it cursorily. 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 65 

The central object is a great canopy or baldacchino, en- 
shrining a ^miraculous portrait of Our Lady with the 
Child, deeply venerated by the Venetians, and the most re- 
vered object in the whole city. It is said to have been 
painted by St. Luke the Evangelist, and is certainly an 
ancient Byzantine work, not later in date than the 8th cen^ 
tury. It was brought to Venice in the 13th century, and was 
transported to this altar in 1618, when the former dedication 
to St. John was altered, and Our Lady made patroness in 
his stead. During the greater part of the week, this por- 
trait is hidden from the eyes of the faithful behind handsome 
bronze folding doors, which contain, above, a facsimile of 
the miraculous image in relief, and below, the figures of St. 
Mark (patron of the church) and St. John the Evangelist 
(former patron of the chapel). These doors are opened, 
however, on Saturdays, when the picture itself, blackened 
with age, may be seen (not well) from a little distance 
through an opera-glass. It is half obscured by necklets and 
other rich ex voids. In character, it seems to be merely an 
ordinary Greek icon, much deteriorated by age. The 
chapel itself is also filled with ugly votive offerings, but it 
possesses some admirable sculptured reliefs, (L. two Saints in 
niches, R. the Madonna and Child.) I do not describe the 
various objects in this very holy place at length, however, as 
it is not practicable to scrutinise any of them without causing 
just annoyance to the numerous worshippers, for whose sake 
it is well to remember the church exists. English tourists 
are often culpably wanting in respect to this holy object. 

Between the Chapel of Our Lady and the Vestibule of the 
Chapel of St. Peter (to the R.) stands an altar of St. Paul, 
surmounted by a statue of the Apostle, bearing a sword : (see 
plan.) An inscription states that it was erected under "the 
famous and pious lord and Doge, Cristoforo Moro" (1462). 

Just beyond this altar is the Vestibule of the Chapel of 
St. Peter, which latter is railed off by a handsome screen, 
surmounted by five statues, (about 1396,) the work of the 
first great Venetian sculptors, the brothers Massegne. The 
figures represent, in the centre, the Madonna and Child ; at 

G. V. E 



66 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

the sides, four great women saints connected with Venice — 
Mary Magdalen, Cecilia, Helena, and Margaret. Pass 
this chapel for the present without entering it beyond the 
screen. 

To your R., as you face this screen, is one of the two mag- 
nificent octagonal Pulpits. This one is double^ or in two 
stories. The exquisite marble-work of its staircase should 
be closely examined. So should all its architectural features. 
It is one of the finest things in the Basilica. 

South Transept. 

The South Transept has in its corner arcades at the 
West End (where it joins the Nave) good early mosaic 
figures of saints, mostly named ; among them that of '^St. 
Catharine is particularly beautiful. Close by is a fine relief 
of Our Lady and the Child. Its West Aisle ends in a 
somewhat Cairene door, leading to the Treasury^ (omit for 
the present :) above it is a pretty mosaic of angels holding 
the sign of the Cross. Over the South Door ol the main 
part of the Transept is a mosaic of St. Mark : this door 
leads direct into the Doge's Palace. 

The East Aisle of this Transept is divided off (Hke the 
Chapel of Our Lady) into a Chapel of the Holy Sacrament, 
where the consecrated Host is now exhibited : it was 
formerly dedicated to St. Leonard. (Hence the mosaics 
above it.) It has also good mosaics on the under side of 
the arch supporting its gallery. 

Between it and the vestibule of the next chapel is the 
altar of St. James, containing his statue, and answering to 
that of St. Paul, opposite. 

The west compartment (Vestibule of St. Clement) con- 
tains the stairs which descend to the Crypt (closed) : on its 
L. side is the second of the handsome octagonal ambones, or 
Pulpits. At the base of the steps which go up to this pul- 
pit are two fine "^decorative reliefs of peacocks. Near the 
steps to the Crypt, observe a particularly beautiful relief ot 
Our Lady and the Child ; above her, on the arch, a quaint 
mosaic of that rather mythical embodiment of bourgeois 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 67 

beneficence, St, Uomobono of Cremona, engaged in the dis- 
tribution of charity ; he is balanced on the other side by St. 
Boniface. Many of these minor saints are patrons of 
neighbouring towns with which Venice had commercial re- 
lations. 

The screen which rails off the Chapel of St. Clement (pass 
it by for the present) is like the one which balances it on the 
N. side ; it also has five excellent statues by the Massegne. 
The figures represent, in the centre, Our Lady with the 
Child : at the sides, four other great women saints— Chris- 
tina, Clara, Catharine, Agnes. 

Understand the arrangement of these two Transepts, and 
of the Central Area of the church between them, before you 
proceed to the examination of the Eastern Area, with its 
three apses. This central area, you may note, has mosaics 
of the whole Gospel history— a point which will lead up to 
the final comprehension of the general arrangement. The 
series begins on the E. arch, (arch of the Presbytery,) is con- 
tinued on the N. and then on the S. side, goes on then to the 
W. arch, with the Passion and Resurrection, and ends in the 
Central Dome with the Ascension. This first general clue 
may help you to spell out for yourself the Key to the whole, 
which I shall give later, illustrated by a diagram. 

The Presbytery. 

You may now go on to inspect the Presbytery, or Main 
Apse, which is so exceptionally rich in objects of interest 
that I can only briefly call attention to a very few of them. 

The Presbytery is separated from the Central Area by a 
rood=loft, or screen, of rich oriental columns, supporting 
an architrave which bears in its centre the Crucifix, (1393,) 
with the symbols of the four Evangelists at the corners. R. 
and L. of this crucifix are Our Lady, and St. John the 
Evangelist, in their conventional places. The other twelve 
statues are those of St. Mark and of the eleven remaining 
Apostles. All these are by the Massegne, (1393, named and 
dated,) and are admirable examples of transitional Venetian 
sculpture. Form your idea of the beginnings of the 



68 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

Venetian Renaissance by studying these figures, with those 
of the women saints on the lateral screens. 

The arch over the rood-loft has mosaics from designs by 
Tintoretto, with episodes from the infancy and ministry of 
the Saviour. 

Pass through the screen and enter the first compartment 
of the Presbytery. The only important objects here are six 
reliefs in bronze, by Sansovino, representing miracles of St. 
Mark, let into the parapet of the little boxes or singing 
galleries to the R. and L. 

The Inner Presbytery is locked; the Sacristan will open 
it for you (a few sous). 

In the centre, in the great place of honour, stands the 
principal object of the whole church, the shrine to which 
all the rest is merely subservient. This holy of holies is the 
High Altar, containing within it, (as an inscription at the 
back testifies,) the actual body of the Evangelist St. Mark, 
whose miraculous preservation and discovery after the fire 
we saw depicted in the mosaics of the South Transept. 

The High Altar ^ in accordance with its importance, is 
covered by a rich canopy or baldacchino, of verd-antique, 
supported at the angles by four ^carved pillars in cipollino, 
of extraordinarily rich and intricate workmanship. These 
are splendid specimens of early Italian carving, possibly of 
the loth century, and certainly not later than the nth. 
The confused groups of figures with which they are entirely 
covered, however, can only be deciphered, for the most part, 
by the aid of the inscriptions, so little is there in them of 
dramatic action. They are intended to narrate in brief the 
whole history of Our Lady and of the Life and Death of the 
Saviour : but they do it with the feebleness of the darkest 
age. The li-^ pillar., to the L. at the back, (N.E,,) tells the 
story of the Blessed Virgin from the rejection of her father 
Joachim in the Temple to her marriage with Joseph : the 
scenes are those usual in this set of subjects : the names 
suffice to identify them. The 2nd pillar., on the L. in front, 
(N.W.,) has the life of Our Lord from the Annunciation to 
the miracle of the loaves and fishes. The "^rd pillar., 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 69 

diagonally opposite to the last, at the R. behind, (S.E,,) has 
the same history from the episode of the young man who 
wishes to bury his father to the cure of the leper. The 4M 
pillar, to the R. in front, (S.W.,) continues the story of the 
Passion to the Ascension and Christ in glory. (Fully to 
describe the subjects, over 100 in number, thus represented, 
is beyond my space : nor do I recommend any, save ad- 
vanced students with abundant time, to tackle them. They 
are hard to make out, but well deserve the attention of those 
who already know the art of the period from ivories, etc.) 
On the summit of the canopy are two figures of Our 
Saviour, front and back ; at the corners, the four Evan- 
gelists. A wonderful work, all told, of immense interest. 

The raised back of the altar is formed by the famous and 
exquisite **PaIa d'Oro, or golden altar-piece. This, the 
most magnificent existing example of the early mediaeval 
jewellers' craft, is covered by a curtain on ordinary occa- 
sions, and is only publicly exposed for a few days at Easter. 
It may, however, be viewed, (though not satisfactorily,) from 
12 to 2 daily, for a payment of 25 c. per person. (Enquire 
of the Sacristan.) 

A full description of this magnificent early work, and ot 
the subjects represented on it, would extend to twenty or 
thirty pages ; I must therefore content myself here with the 
briefest indications of the general treatment. 

The upper part (or first broad band) of the Pala d'Oro is 
the oldest. It was ordered from Constantinople in 976, 
(after the fire which destroyed the first church,) by Doge 
Pietro Orseolo ; its whole workmanship is entirely Byzantine, 
its inscriptions are in Greek, and it bears little reference to 
Venice or Venetian ideas. It is a monument of oriental 
Christian iconography. 

The central plaque of this upper band consists of a figure 
of the Archangel Michael (very much venerated in the 
Greek church) between a pair of six-winged seraphs, his 
name being marked in Greek letters. The three plaques on 
either side consist of scenes from the Gospel History and its 
sequel. Beginning on the L., these are, the Entry into 



70 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

Jerusalem ; the Resurrection, (so inscribed in Greek, but in 
reality Christ releasing Adam and Eve from Hades ;) and 
the Crucifixion : this last plaque must originally have pre- 
ceded the previous one, and the two must have been trans- 
posed in subsequent alterations made by ignorant western 
workmen. R. of the central figure come the Ascension, 
with the Madonna, angels, and apostles below, Christ rising 
above ; the Descent of the Holy Ghost ; and the Death of 
the Virgin, whose soul, like a little child, Christ receives. 
These plaques are all richly covered with jewels, and have 
several small medallions of saints, mostly oriental, and bear- 
ing little or no relation to Venice. 

The lower part of the Pala d'Oro consists to a large 
extent of separate gold altar-pieces, some of which were 
ordered by Doge Ordelafo Falier in 1105, while others were 
probably looted from Constantinople after the capture of the 
city by Doge Enrico Dandolo in 1204. These plaques have 
been several times altered and remade by Venetian gold- 
smiths, as the inscriptions testify, so that part of the work 
here is Byzantine and part native. This composite lower 
portion was joined to the upper, in all probability, about 
1345. It consists, as a whole, of a central design^ (whose 
main compartment contains a Byzantine figure ot Christ 
blessing, with medallions of the four Evangelists,) and of 
minor episodes. Under this central design are two Latin 
verse inscriptions^ giving part of the history of the Pala. 
Between these inscriptions stands a graceful Byzantine 
figure of Our Lady, with her Greek monogram. The 
crowned figures to the R. and L. of this Madonn^ are pecu- 
liarly interesting. That to the L. has a Latin inscription to 
the effect that it represents Ordelafo Falier, by the grace of 
God Duke of the Venetians : that to the R. has a Greek 
inscription stating that it represents Irene, most pious 
Empress. As a matter of fact, however, the Doge's face is 
a later substitution for that of the Emperor John Comnenus, 
husband of this very Empress Irene. The original altar- 
piece at Constantinople from which this portion has been 
stolen must therefore have been presented by the Emperor 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 7 1 

and Empress to St. Sophia : the Venetians must afterwards 
have altered the figure and inscription to suit their own 
dead Doge, but most ungallantly left him faced, not by his 
own Dogaressa, but by the Byzantine Empress. 

The other designs on this portion of the Pala consist 
mostly of figures of saints, etc., the upper row comprising 
adoring angels, the second row the twelve apostles, and the 
third row prophets, named for the most part in Latin letters. 

Many minor subjects are comprised in the Pala, but these 
are as many as the casual visitor is likely to examine. The 
most interesting of the minor subjects is a set detailing the 
life and miracles of St. Mark, and the transference of his 
holy body to Venice. This set is clearly of native work- 
manship, and bears none but Latin inscriptions : it re- 
sembles in part the mosaics in the church. The whole 
Pala, above and below, bristles with jewels of every de- 
scription. 

The front of the altar, also affixed on state occasions 
only, is of silver gilt. 

This altar of St. Mark, containing the actual body of the 
Evangelist, must be regarded as the focus of the entire 
building, towards which all the rest converges. It was in 
mediaeval times the most cherished possession of Venice. 
To its L. is now the Patriarchal Throne ; on either side 
are the stalls of the Canons, brought here from the dissolved 
Carthusian monastery, when St. Mark's was erected into a 
cathedral in 1807. 

Behind the high altar stands a second altar (of the Holy 
Cross) supported by six beautiful columns, two of them of 
verd-antique, two of African marble, and two of alabaster, 
semi-transparent ; these last, spirally twisted, are said to 
have come from Solomon's Temple. 

Having thus examined cursorily the chief objects on the 
floor of the presbytery, you may proceed to notice the 
mosaics of its upper portion. 

The great Eastern Dome has in its centre an exquisite 
early mosaic figure of the "^beardless Christ, holding what 
seems to be a roll of prophecy. Beneath Him is a figure of 



']2 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

-Our Lady, to the extreme E. ; next to whom are her royal 
and prophetic ancestors, kings David and Solomon. The 
other figures are those of the prophets who prophesied of 
Christ, — namely, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Abdias, Habakkuk, 
Hosea, Jonah, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zachariah, and Malachi, 
each holding a scroll inscribed with words of their pro- 
phecies. (These words — read them if you know Latin — are 
always of great importance in understanding the special 
meaning of the figures.) In the pendentives are the 
symbols (six-winged) of the four Evangelists, who showed 
forth Christ's works to Christendom. 

The small arches on either side of these pendentives have 
exquisite decorative work, with the mystic Lamb and other 
minor figures. 

The apse is occupied by a late but very fine seated figure 
of Christ, dated 1505. This is the terminal object of the 
whole church ; it is seen in front of you from the main 
portal at the moment of entering. 

Beneath this mosaic, between the windows.^ are four 
figures more directly connected with the dedication of the 
church and with the holy Body which lies within it. To the 
L. is St. Nicholas, commercial patron of Venice ; next to 
him is St. Peter, who hands St. Mark the Gospel, to which 
he has given his approbation ; third comes St. Mark himself, 
who receives the book of his Gospel from St. Peter and 
hands it on to Hermagoras, Bishop of Aquileia ; fourth is 
Hermagoras in the act of receiving it. The last three of 
these mosaics, thus prominently placed under the apsidal 
figure of Our Saviour, represent the importance of St. Mark 
both as Evangelist and as first preacher of the Gospel in 
these estuaries. They may be regarded as symbolical of 
the consecration of Mark by Peter, and of Hermagoras by 
Mark, and thus of the direct descent of the Venetian 
Patriarchate from the first Bishop of Aquileia, from the 
holy Evangelist, and from the Prince of the Apostles. The 
puzzling presence of St. Nicholas in this group is explained 
by the Latin verses above, which state that the bodies of 
these four saints rest in Venetian soil, and that on them the 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 73 

Venetian people chiefly trust for welfare and protection. 
These verses are of such fundamental importance in the 
scheme of the church, that, contrary to my usual custom, I 
transcribe them in full, in the original rhyming Latin : — 

Quatuor hos jure fuit hie prasponere cure, (curae.) 
Corporibus quorum praecellit honos Venetorum. 
His viget, his crescit, terraque marique intescit : 
Integer et totus sit ab his numquamque relictus. 

The last line does not rhyme, and has obviously been ill 
restored: "remotus" in the last word has been suggested 
as the original reading ; but I think the old verse was really 
"Integer et tutus sit ab his, nunquamque solutus." The 
order of the figures is comprehensible if we notice that the 
central pair are Peter and Mark, the outer pair Nicholas 
and Hermagoras. 

Only from this Presbytery, and from the two Apsidal 
Chapels we have next to visit, can the ordinary traveller obtain 
a sight of the "^early mosaics in the two great Arches above 
the Apsidal Chapels, R. and L. of the sarcophagus of St. Mark. 
(The organ-gallery above, from which these most interesting 
works are best seen, is unfortunately closed to the public, 
except by special permission, accorded to all whose claim is 
properly presented to the courteous officials.) I will therefore 
describe their subjects here, leaving the reader to find out 
for himself the best points of view which the light and the 
conditions of the moment render possible. In any case, they 
are hard to decipher. 

The great arch to the L. of the High Altar (N. wall of 
Presbytery) stands over the Chapel of St. Peter, the spiritual 
father of St. Mark, and therefore represents the life and 
martyrdom of that saint, and of his spiritual son, the Evange- 
list. L. side (W.) above, St. Peter ordains St. Mark as 
bishop ; St. Mark heals a leper ; St. Mark baptises converts : 
below, Rome (as shown by the inscription in the arcade) : 
St. Peter ordains St. Hermagoras as first bishop of Aquileia: 
St. Mark takes his Gospel to Alexandria, (so marked in the 
arcade : ) St. Hermagoras baptises the people of Aquileia : 
these mosaics thus directly connect Mark and Peter with 



74 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARY'S [ii. 

Venetian Christianity. R. side (E.) beginning below, St. 
Mark, warned by an angel, goes to Alexandria : he heals the 
cobbler Anianus : above, he preaches the Gospel ; he 
baptises. 

The wall beneath this arch continues the history, though 
not, it seems to me, in chronological order : Herod orders 
the imprisonment of St. Peter : the angel delivers him from 
prison. The martyrdom of St. Mark : his disciples bury his 
body. 

The great arch to the R. of the High Altar, (S. wall of 
Presbytery,) stands over the chapel of St. Clement, and has 
perhaps the earliest, and certainly the most interesting 
■^■^mosaics in the whole Basilica. These represent the 
history of the body of St. Mark after his death, and its direct 
connection with the City of Venice. To the L., above, is 
seen a single arch with the word " Alexandria " ; R. of this 
the priest Theodore and the monk Stauracius, Alexandrian 
Christians, are seen confiding the body of St. Mark to the 
care of Tribunus and Rusticus, Venetian traders then at 
Alexandria ; still further R., Tribunus and Rusticus, (all 
the figures being fully named,) carry the body of the saint in a 
basket for embarkation ; the inscription above naively con- 
fesses that this is an act of theft— it runs : Marcum fiirantur : 
Kanzir hi vociferantur, " They steal the body of Mark ; they 
cry as they come, Kanzir," i.e., pork. Below, they hide the 
body in the sails of the ship, while Theodore and Stauracius 
stand by in order to deceive the Mohammedan Custom-house 
officials. On the wall between the two halves of the arch, 
the departure of the bark from Alexandria : its arrival at 
Venice. On the R. side of the arch (again) is seen above, 
the miracle of the storm, in which the ship is nearly driven 
on the islands of the lagoon, marked by name, estuarie \ St. 
Mark appears and warns the sailors of their danger in 
another quaint rhyming hexameter. Beneath this, the 
Venetian people, represented by the Doge, the senate, the 
priests, and the laity, joyfully receive the holy body. These 
mosaics are in the same simple and direct style as those 
telling the same story which once existed on the facade of the 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 75 

church, and which can still be seen in Bellini's interesting 
picture in the Academy. They are among the most precious 
relics of early art in Venice. I cannot, however, reduce the 
series to any quite intelligible order. 

Visit the Presbytery often, till you feel that you have 
examined its contents thoroughly. There are many other 
objects worth note in it, which the necessary hmits of a 
Guide Book compel me to pass over. 

The Apsidal Chapel to the L. (N.) is that of St. Peter, 
whose connection with St. Mark I have already sufficiently 
pointed out. It is very dark, except on the brightest days, 
and has on its altar (which contains relics of St. Peter) and 
on its apse, figures of its patron, the Prince of the Apostles. 
It is, however, one of the best positions for seeing portions of 
the mosaics, already mentioned, on the wall and arch above, 
(which bear reference to the life of St. Peter, and to the life 
and martyrdom of his follower, St. Mark,) especially those of 
the history of Peter just overhead. 

[A door of exit in this Chapel gives access to a portion 
of the exterior not elsewhere seen, with curious fragments 
of ancient sculpture embedded in the wall. You can pro- 
ceed hence to San Zaccaria and the Riva degli Schia- 
voni.] 

The Apsidal Chapel to the R. (S.) is that of St. Clement. 
It contains in its apse a mosaic figure of the saint to whom it 
is dedicated. Its altar has a relief of the Madonna and Child, 
between St. Peter and St. Clement : beneath this, St. 
Nicholas, to whom St. Andrew presents his namesake. Doge 
Andrea Gritti (the donor) balanced by St. James (whose 
altar is just outside). An inscription states that the altar 
contains relics, not only of St. Clement, but also of Blaise, 
Stephen, Hermagoras, Fortunatus, Cornelius, Cyprian, 
Pancras, Hippolytus, Denis, Cyril, Sergius, and Bacchus, 
some of whose figures you may find among the surrounding 
mosaics. This is a good station for observing portions of 
mosaics (already described) on the arch above, representing 
the transference of the body of St. Mark from Alexandria to 
Venice. The wall has episodes from the life of St. Clement, 



76 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

(Sismnius struck blind because he tries to see Mass, being a 
Pagan, etc.) 

A door on the R. in this Chapel (closed) gives direct access 
to the court of the Doge's Palace, and was the portal by 
which the Most Serene Prince usually entered the Basilica. 
Close to it, therefore, is an inscription in Latin verse, giving 
plain and by no means courtier-like advice to the Doge by 
name as to his spiritual and temporal duties. 



If the reader finds that these notes do not call attention to 
certain objects that interest him in the church, or do not 
solve certain problems that puzzle him he must remember 
that a full description of all the works of art in St. Mark's on 
the same scale would far outrun the entire limits of this little 
book. Those who desire fuller information must turn to the 
works oi Pasmi ^xidi Saccardo already mentioned. . My own 
object has been merely to give my readers in a short compass 
some general conception of this glorious church, which they 
may afterwards study for themselves in detail. 

Dominant Ideas. 

You are by this time, I trust, in a position to understand 
the leading religious ideas which govern the arrangement 
of the decoration in St. Mark's. 

The Vestibule, or Atrium, theoretically supposed to be 
intended for the use of those who have not yet entered the 
church, (2>., the unbaptised and enquirers or catechumens,) is 
decorated with very ancient mosaics (Byzantine in type) re. 
presenting the chief facts of the Old Testament history. K 
represents the Jewish Church, previous to the New Dispensa- 
tion. The series begins with the Creation, and ends (as usual) 
with the Fall of the Manna, which last is always regarded as 
typical of the spiritual food, that is to say, of Christ. The 
particular episodes selected for illustration are in every case 
those which mediaeval theologians regarded as foreshadowing 
the life of the Saviour, or the New Testament history. Pre- 
cisely similar and almost identical scenes occur as illumina- 
tions in the 5th-century illuminated Greek Bible (fragmentary) 
in the Cottonian collection. 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 77 

The main central line or axis of the inner church, from 
the Door of St. Mark to the Apse at the E. End, is devoted 
on the other hand ahnost entirely to Christ and the chief 
facts of the Christian rehgion, (but in a subsidiary degree to 
St. Mark the patron.) Contrary to what one might expect, 
however, the Gospel story begins at the Apse, and ends by the 
main entrance. If you stand under the Central Dome, in 
front of the Presbytery, this fact will become quite clear to 
you. In the Apse which faces you, and which forms as it 




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GENERAL SCHEME OF MOSAIC DECORATION. 



were the focus of the Basilica, closing the vista inward, you 
have the gigantic figure of the Redeemer himself In the 
Eastern Dome, over the Presbytery, are represented Christ 
and the Prophets who prophesied of him. The arc/t, 
between this dome and the next, has the facts of the Infancy 
and Ministry. The Central Dome, over your head, shows 
the Ascension, with our Lady and the twelve Apostles. It 
is interposed here because of its central importance. Look- 
ing westward from the same point, the Great Arch between 



78 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

the two Transepts gives the history of the Passion and 

Resurrection : the side arches have the immediate episodes 
of the Gospel history. Thus the whole central area tells 
the life of Christ, culminating in its centre with the Ascen- 
sion. In the Western Dome is the Descent of the Holy 
Ghost, with the Christian people. The mosaics on either 
side of it (in the Aisles) give the acts and martyrdoms of the 
Apostles. The last Great Arch has the Vision of the Apoca- 
lypse, and the Last Judgment. This main trunk or axis of 
the church is thus a brief epitome of the entire Christian 
doctrine — the preparation for Christ ; the Prophecies of 
Christ ; the life and Passion of Christ ; the Resurrection ; 
the Ascension; the Descent of the Holy Ghost ; the Second 
Advent ; the Last Judgment ; and the Life of the World to 
Come, in Paradise or in torment. 

From another point of view, however, it is also devoted to 
St. Mark the Evangelist, to whom the church as a whole 
is dedicated, and to the other chief saints of the Venetian 
people. The Central Door, which leads to it, bears his name 
and image ; as you look up from this door, the principal 
object in front of you, behind the screen, is the Hz'g'A Altar^ 
which contains his relics. In the apse are his mission to 
Aquileia and his connection with St. Peter. The chief 
mosaics to the L. of the Presbytery tell the history of his life 
aftd mariyrdom J- the chief mossdcs to the R. of the Presbytery 
tell the story of the removal of his body to Venice. Christ and 
St. Mark, with the Madonna, are thus the leading chords : 
in the mosaic over the inner side of the main portal we get 
these three figures significantly associated. 

The line of the L. Aisle, which begins at the Door of St. 
Peter, ends in the Apsidal Chapel of St. Peter, the spiritual 
father of St. Mark. St. Peter is here the chief figure. The 
line of the R. Aisle, which begins at the Door of St. Clement, 
ends at the Apsidal Chapel of St. Clement, whose relics are 
preserved in its altar, but whose exact connection with 
this church I do not quite understand. These two lines 
have thus a clear reference to the Apsidal Chapels. 

The North Transept, entered by the Door of St. John, 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 79 

had originally over it the image of that saint, whose history 
is represented in the Dome of the N. Transept. (His figure 
is still within above the portal.) The Chapel at its end 
was dedicated to St. John. Since the 17th century, however, 
the Chapel has been converted into that of the miraculous 
Virgin of Constantinople ; and her (false) Byzantine image 
has been substituted over the entrance door for that of St. 
John. The symbolism of this portion of the church, originally 
Johannine, has thus been gravely disturbed by the increased 
modern devotion to Our Lady. 

The South Transept, not now approached by any direct 
door, save a private one from the Doge's Palace, had its 
Chapel originally dedicated to St. Leonard, a saint of early 
importance at Venice, to whom many of the mosaics above 
still refer ; but as it has now been turned into a Chapel of the 
Holy Sacrament, the symbolism has been obscured here also. 
Its dome has four great local patrons, and four holy Virgins 
of Aquileia. 

These are only a few brief notes on the central conceptions 
of the decoration ; those who care to observe closely for 
themselves the relations of the minor parts, and the distribu- 
tion of relics and mosaics, will find that much light is thus 
cast upon the assemblage of saints or subjects in the various 
arches. In no part of the building is the grouping arbitrary, 
though it has often been made to seem so by modern alter- 
ations. Corresponding sides or arches have usually corre- 
sponding saints or episodes. By walking up each of the main 
lines from end to end, you will gain an increased sense of the 
relations of the component members ; and of the scheme of 
their symbolism. Most of the minor saints are those of the 
various Venetian parishes, or those whose relics are pre- 
served m Venice. 

As a whole, the Atrium gives the Jewish half of the Chris- 
tian scheme ; the interior gives the Gospel half. The Old 
Testament is the vestibule ; the New is the completed church 
or full scheme of Salvation. 



80 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

The separate minor portions of St. Mark's may now be 
more briefly visited Most important among them is the 

Chapel of St. Isidore. 

The Cappella di Sant' Isidoro is entered frorn the L. 
or N. Transept. (See plan.) Ask the Sacristan, who for a 
few sous will admit you. 

The story of this chapel is best told in the words of the 
quaint inscription over the altar, which I translate in full as 
follows : — 

"The body of the blessed Isidore is enclosed in this present 
sarcophagus. It was brought from Chios by the Lord 
Domenico Michiel, famous Doge of the Venetians, in the 
year 1125, and remained laid by privately in this church of 
St. Mark until the beginning of the building of this chapel, 
erected under his name ; which was begun during the 
Dukedom of the Lord Andrea Dandolo, famous Doge of 
the Venetians, and in the time of the noble gentlemen, 
Lords Marco Loredan and Giovanni Dolfin, Procurators of 
the church of St. Mark, and was completed under the 
Dukedom of the Lord Giovanni Gradonico, famous Doge of 
the Venetians, and in the time of the noble gentlemen, the 
Lords Marco Loredan, Nicolo Lion, and Giovanni Dolfin, 
Procurators of the church of St. Mark, in the year 1355, on 
the loth day of the month of July." It thus owes its origin to 
the same great Doge who built and decorated the Baptistery. 

The chapel is extremely dark, and can only be tolerably 
seen on a very bright day. 

The Altar is occupied by the sarcophagus in which rest 
the remains of the Saint. He lies in sculptured effigy on its 
lid : a good piece of sculpture. The front of the sarcophagus 
is decorated with a figure of Christ, and of SS. John 
Baptist and another, unidentified. The two reliefs represent, 
to the L., the Saint being dragged by horses over the ground, 
and to the R. his decapitation. This is a fine work, coeval 
with the erection of the chapel. Notice also the angel with 
the censer, the beautiful symbolical designs on the under 
side of the arch, and the usual Annunciation in the spandrils. 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. 3IARICS 8l 

The walls of the chapel are decorated with particularly 
handsome slabs of coloured marble and other stones. The 
^mosaics are all of a peculiar type, quite different in design 
and technique from those of the contemporary Baptistery, 
erected by the same Doge, Andrea Dandolo : those of the 
Baptistery seem to me to have been executed by Byzantine 
artists, (or artists thoroughly trained in the Byzantine school,) 
while these seem rather like the first attempts of indifferent 
native workmen, feeling their way doubtfully. They have 
lost the simple dignity and repose of earlier treatment with- 
out having attained to more modern freedom and sense of 
action. Nevertheless, they are so excellent in technical 
setting that hardly a stone of the mosaics has been misplaced, 
and we therefore see them at the present day essentially as 
they were left in the 14th century. 

The lunette over the Altar has a figure of Christ seated ; 
to the L. is St. Mark, (church,) to the R., St. Isidore, 
(chapel.) Beneath it is the mscription already translated. 
The lunette opposite this one shows Our Lady and the Child, 
with, L., St. John the Baptist, and R,, St. Nicholas in 
Greek ecclesiastical costume, — these (with St. Mark opposite) 
are the patron saints of the three Procurators mentioned in 
the inscription. 

On the ceiling, towards the wall of entrance., is the 
History of St. Isidore most quaint and interesting. Above. 
he sets sail for Chios, with his companion Amenio ; all th0 
figures are named in the inscriptions ; then, he arrives at 
Chios, where he is hospitably entertained by Valeria and her 
daughter Afra ; St. Isidore and Amenio give thanks for 
their safe landing ; St. Isidore reasons with, and casts out, a 
devil ; Valeria and Afra are converted by his preaching ; 
he baptises Afra, nude, in the font. Below : " How Nu- 
merianus sentenced St. Isidore"; observe the Roman 
soldiers with their shields ; " How he was placed in a burn- 
ing fiery furnace " ; note the wood-bearers : then, he is 
dragged at horses' tails over the ground, the blood spurting 
out more copiously than artistically ; finally, he is beheaded. 

The mosaics of the window wall, (seen with the greatest 

G. V. F 



82 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

difficulty except in a bright light,) show the bringing of the 
body of St. Isidore from Chios to this chapel. At the 
opposite side from the Altar, below, the entombment of 
St. Isidore ; above. Doge Domenico Michiel arriving at 
Chios ; then, a private priest, Cerbanus, steals the body of 
St. Isidore for his personal use, from the sarcophagus ; 
notice the horrid realism of the shrivelled corpse and skull 
of the Saint : the Doge reprehends Cerbanus for the theft, 
and sends him on shore ; the body is taken to the fleet, with 
great respect ; below, near the window, it is carried into 
St Mark's with due solemnity. Between the windows is a 
figure of St, George the Martyr. If you can get light enough 
to study these curious and unique works, the remarkable 
details will well repay you. 

The Sacristy 

may be entered at any time ; the ciistode in charge of it 
perambulates the church, and has the word "Sagrestia" 
embroidered in very legible characters on his coat ; he will 
unlock the door for you for a few sous. The entrance is 
through the Chapel of St. Peter. 

The magnificent room to which you thus gain access 
differs from all the rest of the church in the fact that all its 
decorations are throughout of the same period, and coeval 
with its erection. The "^^ inosaics are in the best Renaissance 
style, from designs by Titian and his pupils. The whole 
scheme of this decoration is admirable, and may be accepted 
as by far the best of the later mosaics. The technical work 
is perfect. The subjects, however, do not require elucida- 
tion : nor have they anything like the interest of the ancient 
designs. The great Latin cross which forms the central 
axis of the ceiling has a few figures which are self-explanatory. 
Do not suppose, however, that this fine specimen of Renais- 
sance decoration is not worthy of close attention because I 
dismiss it with a few sentences. 

The Treasury 
is entered from the R. Transept : open daily, except festas, 
from 12 to 2 ; tickets, 25 c. each. It contains a large num- 



II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 83 

ber of fine early cups and reliquaries. Also, an * episcopal 
throne of the 6th century, known as the Chair of St. Mark : 
it is of carved marble, Egyptian in workmanship, and 
doubtless brought from St. Mark's at Alexandria. The 
principal subjects are St. Mark and Matthew, the symbols 
of the Evangelists, the Lamb, and some cruces aiisatcB or 
Egyptian symbols of immortality, borrowed by the Alex- 
andrian church from earlier paganism. Note particularly 
the Four Rivers of Paradise and the very Egyptian character 
of the trees. This chair was brought from Alexandria to 
Constantinople at an early date, and sent in 630 by the 
Emperor Heraclius to the Patriarch of Grado, whence it 
was transported in 1520. Canon Pasini believes that it was 
constructed to contain, and perhaps still contains, the wooden 
seat used by St. Mark when he presided over the infant 
church at Alexandria. 

The Crypt 

is seldom open except on St, Mark's day, (April 25.) It is 
curiously labyrinthine, and architecturally older than any 
other portion of the building, being^a part of the oldest 
church, burnt down in the loth century. The capitals of 
its columns are beautiful and full of interest. 



Observe from the Piazzetta one portion of St. Mark's near 
the Doge's Palace, high up, which has not been coated with 
marble, but exhibits well the simple original Byzantine style 
in naked brick-work. 



In connection with St. Mark's we may also notice the two 
immense "^Granite columns in the Piazzetta, facing the 
lagoon. These enormous shafts, each consisting of a single 
block of wrought granite, one grey, one rosy, were brought 
from Tyre in 1126 by Doge Domenico Michiel, after he had 
captured that city from the Saracens, as trophies of his 
conquest, but lay on the Piazzetta till 1171 or 11 80, owing to 
the great mechanical difficulties of raising them into position. 
They were then at last placed erect by a mediaeval engineer 
in their existing situation. Thus they are indirect memorials 



84 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [ii. 

of the acquisition of Tyre by the Crusaders. Their beautiful 
broad bases, and still lovelier capitals, (probably carved in 
Venice itself in the 12th century,) form glorious specimens of 
Byzantine Romanesque sculpture. The one to the E. bears 
an ancient bronze figure (nth or 12th century) of the 
winged lion of St. Mark, a splendid piece of early native 
handicraft, the wings of which, however, are compara- 
tively modern — indeed, the whole figure, though very 
ancient in type, has been much tinkered. The column 
to the W. bears a somewhat insipid figure of St. Theodore, 
the ancient patron of the Republic, conquering his dragon, 
which is here represented as a very unmistakable crocodile. 
This figure was erected in 1329, but is scarcely more than 
a mediocre specimen of the art of its period. It seems to 
be remotely derived from the Egyptian type of Horus on 
the crocodile. 



You may round off your conception of Byzantine Venice 

by comparing with St. Mark's the Byzantine palaces on the 
Grand Canal, and more particularly the Loredan^ the 
Farsetti^ and the very old building now absurdly known 
as the Fondaco del Turchi. These are more particularly 
noticed in a later section. The Romanesque city is amply 
shown by such surviving relics to have been already a town 
of great wealth and splendour, architecturally far in advance 
of other Italian towns, though destitute of the lofty engineer- 
ing glories of France and the Rhine country. 



Ill 

GOTHIC VENICE: THE DOGE'S 
PALACE 

THE nucleus of the first Venice, before it was made 
the seat of government of the RepubHc, is said to 
have been the little district about the great bridge over the 
Grand Canal, which still retains the name of Rialto. But as 
soon as the island group of Rivo Alto became the capital 
of the Republic of the Venetians, a Palace for the Dux 
or Doge was erected near the open mouth, on the site 
which its successor still occupies. This earliest palace was 
probably built in the year 813 ; close beside it rose the old 
Ducal Chapel of St. Theodore, the predecessor of St. 
Mark's. In style, the first Ducal Mansion must have 
generally resembled the Fondaco dei Turchi, and must no 
doubt have been a building in the severe early-Byzantine 
manner. It was more than once burnt down, but each 
time rebuilt, the last large restoration being made by Doge 
Sebastiano Ziani in 1173. In 1301, however, the govern- 
ment of Venice having become by that time more strictly 
oligarchical, a new saloon was built for the meetings of the 
new Grand Council, (Consiglio Maggiore ;) and this saloon, 
designed in the fashionable Qothic style, which was then 
just beginning to invade Venice from the mainland, formed 
the nucleus of the existing palace. (Earlier Gothic palaces 
which set the type will be seen on the Grand Canal.) For 
a time, only the south front towards the open lagoon, with 
a small part of the western fagade towards the Piazzetta, 
was completed in this style ; the old Byzantine-Romanesque 
palace of Ziani filled up the gap between this new Gothic 
portion and the gate next St. Mark's (now the Porta della 

85 



86 GOTHIC VENICE: THE DOGE'S PALACE [ill. 

Carta). The existing front towards the open lagoon dates 
from about 1309 to 1340 : the ruins of the old Byzantine 
palace were pulled down after a fire in 14 19, and the re- 
maining fagade as far as St. Mark's was shortly after com- 
pleted — Gothic in form, but Renaissance in feeling. Later 
still, during the Renaissance period, the inner court and the 
facade toward the side canal were gradually added. These 
details of the building and its vicissitudes will become 
clearer as we examine the architecture on the spot. As 
a whole, the Doge's Palace as it now stands may be 
regarded (externally) as the characteristic typical example 
of fully developed Venetian Gothic. It is built of brick, 
and is lined or incrusted with small lozenge-like slabs of 
variously coloured marble. 

The Interior of the Doge's Palace, as we see it at present, 
belongs to a much later date than the exterior. The build- 
ing was gutted by a great fire in 1574 and again in 1577, 
which entirely destroyed all its pictures and internal decora- 
tions. The works it now contains are therefore of late date, 
(i6th and 17th century,) and should not be examined till 
after the visitor has thoroughly mastered the evolution of 
earlier Venetian painting at the Academy. The outside and 
inside of the Palace, indeed, have little relation historically 
to one another.] 

Begin your examination of the Doge's Palace at the 
south=east corner, facing the lagoon, and remotest from 
the Piazza. 

Stand on the Po?tte della Paglia, opposite the (i6th 
century) Bridge of Sighs, which connects the courts in the 
Palace with the Criminal Prison to your R. (This late 
building has little relation to the original edifice.) The first 
portion of the Palace, on the side canal to your left (Rio di 
Palazzo) has its brick wall still uncased with marble, and 
thus shows you well the primitive character of the architec- 
ture throughout. Notice the charming string-courses of 
decorative work marking the various floors or levels, as well 
as the delicate original windows, spoiled by the proximity of 



III.] GOTHIC VENICE: THE DOGE'S PALACE 87 

several square modern additions. Confine yourself for the 
present to this primitive brick portion, and observe well the 
arrangement of its component members. 

Note next that the corner of the building here (and in 
most of the other Gothic Palaces) is gracefully softened by 
the addition of spiral columns, with occasional projections ; 
and observe how this artistic softening runs up through all 
the stories. The Palace has three exposed angles, (the 
fourth abuts on St. Mark's ;) these three are decorated 
with sculpture : above, the three archangels ; below, three 
figure-subjects intended respectively to inculcate Justice, 
Obedience, Temperance — appropriate morals for the resi- 
dence of a chief magistrate. The archangel in this case is 
Raphael, accompanied by the boy Tobias, holding the fish 
which was to cure his father's blindness. (Tobias is only 
present as the archangel's symbol.) Raphael looks sea- 
ward, and holds a scroll with a prayer, (in a rhymed Latin 
hexameter,) asking him to render the lagoon and the 
Adriatic free from tempest. (Effice, quasso, fretum, Rafael 
reverende, quietum.) The sculptured group below repre- 
sents the '^^ Drunkenness of Noah, (1317,) inculcating Tem- 
perance. (These sculptures are taken here in inverse 
order, for an architectural and historical reason which will 
presently be apparent. The proper order would of course 
be Michael, Gabriel, Raphael.) Shem and Japhet are 
covering their father with a cloth ; Ham stands apart 
beyond the arch. Wine pours from the cup in the drunken 
patriarch's hand ; his other hand grasps and crushes the 
grapes. The leafage of the vine is fine, but the tendrils 
have been broken. 

Now, descend the bridge, and stand opposite the Palace, 
near the water's edge, to observe the South Facade, or 
Sea Front, It consists of four tiers. The lowest tier is 
composed of an arcade with short and somewhat stumpy 
columns, without bases. (They were not always quite so 
short, as the level of the pavement has been raised, 
but they had never any bases.) The noble sculptured 
^capitals of these columns are all varied, with fine Gothic 



88 GOTHIC VENICE: THE DOGE'S PALACE [ill. 

feeling, and must be separately examined afterwards. This 
covered arcade, screened from sun or rain, was the chief 
meeting-place of the Venetian nobility in the days of the 
Republic. The second tier consists of an open loggia, 
guarded by a balustrade; it has cusped arches, with 
pierced quatrefoils above them, having lions' heads in the 
angles. Notice the characteristic ball ornament in the 
quatrefoils. This type of loggia was afterwards copied in 
most of the Gothic palaces on the Grand Canal erected 
subsequently to this building ; they may be described as 
of the Doge's Palace type. The loggia was used by ladies 
of the senatorial order for viewing great state ceremonies. 
The two first floors are thus the lightest. The wall above^ 
contrary to the usual rule, is heavier than the lower portion : 
it is relatively plain, and pierced with few windows, but is 
encased in an elaborate decorative pattern of encrusted 
marble. This heavy plainness enhances by contrast the 
beauty and airiness of the lower stories. The first two 
windows of the third tier, to the R., retain their ancient 
tracery, (of two types, one like that in the apse of the Frari,) 
and perhaps belong to the very earliest part of the building 
(about 1 301). The four plain windows to the L., with the 
large door into the central balcony, form part of the Sala 
del Maggior Consiglio, the great hall for which this second 
portion of the Palace was originally erected, (about 1340.) 
The fourth tier is pierced with small round windows ; the 
architectural arrangement here will be more obvious after 
you have visited the interior. 

The centre of this sea fagade is occupied by an immense 
window, with a fine balcony of pierced marble work (1404). 
On the pinnacle at the summit above stands Justice, (or, 
more probably, Venice,) with the sword and scales ; below, 
in three niches, St. Mark, flanked by St. Peter and St. Paul : 
then, Charity in the circle above the window, Faith and 
Hope beside her. Close by, the four Cardinal Virtues. 
(These Virtues recur everywhere in Venice.) Beneath, at 
the sides of the window, St. George (modern, by Canova) 
and St. Theodore, the minor patrons. 



III.] GOTHIC VENICEi THE DOGES PALACE 89 

This south facade, taken as a whole, is the oldest part of 
the Palace, 14th century. 

Return to the side-canal corner, by the Drunkenness of 
Noah, in order to examine the capitals of the columns: 
they have been restored, (or rather, renewed,) but are still 
interesting, (i) Corner column, symbolical half-lengths of 
children and men (with razors, draughts, etc.) among 
foliage ; (2) pelicans, and other similar birds of symboli- 
cal character (animal symbolism is an interesting subject, 
largely exemplified at Venice, but not to be adequately 
treated \vithin the necessarily restricted limits of this 
Guide) ; (3) male and female heads ; (4) children with 
grapes, birds, etc. ; (5) famous monarchs (beginning on the 
side towards the Sea Front :) the Emperor Titus Vespasian, 
the Emperor Trajan, Priam king of Troy, (chronologically 
the series starts here,) Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander the 
Great, Darius, Julius Cffisar, Augustus ; (6) female heads ; 
(7) Virtues and Vices, (begin on the front,) Liberality, dis- 
pensing money ; Constancy ; Discord ; Patience ; Despair, 
thrusting a dagger into her throat, and tearing her hair ; 
Obedience ; Infidelity, holding an idol ; Modesty : (8) 
Centaurs, Giants, and monsters of various forms, all sym- 
bolical ; (9) Virtues : Faith, holding the cross ; Courage, 
tearing open lion's jaw ; Temperance, with pitcher and cup 
of water ; Humility, with a lamb ; Charity, feeding a child ; 
Justice, holding a sword ; Prudence, with compasses ; Hope, 
clasping her hands, all very typical allegorical personifi- 
cations : recollect them for future examples ; (10) Vices : 
Luxury, with mirror ; Gluttony, gnawing a bone ; Pride, as 
a Knight ; Anger, tearing her own breast ; Avarice, clasping 
money-bags ; Idleness, lolling ; Vanity, with a mirror and 
crown ; Envy, wreathed with snakes and nursing a dragon ; 
(11) birds; (12) Vices and their opposite virtues: De- 
spondency ; Cheerfulness, playing a tambourine ; Folly, 
on horseback ; Chastity, reading, as a cloistered nun ; 
Honesty ; Falsehood, a hag ; Injustice, armed with a 
halbert ; Abstinence, apparently as continence : (13) Lions' 
heads : (14) Symbolical animals — dogs, monkeys, a boar. 



90 GOTHIC VENICE: THE DOGE'S PALACE [ill. 

lion, etc. : (15) the nobility, (?) a lady with a distaff; a 
young lord with a rose ; a woman with a lap-dog ; a man 
with a falcon ; a woman counting her jewels ; a man play- 
ing with foliage ; a queen with a rose ; a boy with a ball : 
symbolising worldly joys and pleasures (?) : (16) Heads, 
representing nations, eastern and western ; (17) Philoso- 
phers : Solomon ; Priscian the grammarian, Aristotle the 
logician, Cicero the orator, Pythagoras the arithmetician, 
Euchd the geometer, Tubal Cam the musician, Ptolemy 
the astronomer: (18) the sun and planets in their 
"Houses" or signs; Aquarius, Saturn riding a goat and 
bearing an urn ; the House of Saturn : Sagittarius and Pisces, 
Jupiter riding a centaur, holding the bow, with two fish ; the 
House of Jupiter : Aries and Scorpio, the House of Mars, a 
knight bestriding a ram, and carrying a scorpion : Leo, the 
House of the Sun, represented as Apollo, seated on a lion : 
Taurus and Libra, the House of Venus, who sits on a bull, 
and holds balances : Gemini and Virgo, the House of Mer- 
cury, between two children and a maiden : Cancer, the 
House of the Moon, a woman in a boat, holding a crab : 
God creating Adam, for whose use these stars existed, (for 
mediaeval intelligence.) Note that everywhere in this age 
the connection between astronomy and religion is very 
close, the Calendar being a sacred compilation to show 
saints' days and festivals. 

From the base of the great Granite Column with St. 
Mark's lion, you can best examine the south-west corner. 
It is softened above in the same manner as the preceding 
one. The archangel here is Michael, holding his sword ; 
the sculpture below represents "^"^the Fall, (1344,) and typi- 
fies or enforces Obedience. It is an admirable piece of 
early Gothic work, with especially good fig-tree foliage, well 
undercut, and extremely vigorous. Adam and "^Eve are fine 
Gothic nudes of their period. 

Proceed round the corner to examine the W. facade, 
towards the Piazzetta. The first two windows of this fa9ade 
on the third tier belong to the Sala del Maggior Consiglio, 
and form part of the original Gothic portion, which ended 



III.] GOTHIC VENICE: THE DOGE'S PALACE 9 1 

at the sixth arch from the Adam-and-Eve corner. Its limits 
are well marked by a square thickened pillar on the loggia, or 
second tier^ surmounted by a fine "^relief of Venice enthroned 
between her lions. There can be no doubt as to her person- 
ality in this case, since she is legibly inscribed, " Venecia." 
Behind her is the rhymed inscription, Fortis iusta trono 
fui'ias 7nare sub pede pono : (" Brave and just, I place faction 
beneath my throne and the sea beneath my foot.") 

The rest of this W. facade is of later Gothic work, tinged 
by Renaissance feeling, (see introduction to this section,) but 
excellently harmonised with the earlier portion. It is the 
part erected (about 1430) under Francesco Foscari upon the 
site of the Romanesque palace of Doge Ziani. The capitals 
of its pillars are mostly copied from those of the earlier 
ones. The central balcony is best observed from the 
lamp-post opposite, near the Libreria Vecchia. On the 
summit stands Venice with her lions ; below, a bearded 
Doge (Francesco Foscari) kneels before the Lion of St. 
Mark with the Venetian motto, (Pax tibi, etc.) The statues 
in the niches represent, above^ R., Jupiter, L., Mercury ; 
below^ R., Neptune, L., Mars. They thus suggestively 
represent (J.) the ducal authority, (M.) the commerce of 
Venice, (N.) her command of the sea, and (M.) her military 
power. Observe that here for the first time we come across 
personages from the pagan mythology, a point which 
marks distinct transition from the mediaeval to the Renais- 
sance spirit. Till now, the symbolism has been all Christian. 

The north=west corner, near St. Mark's, is softened by 
sculpture like the others. Its archangel is Gabriel^ with the 
Annunciation lily. Its subject-sculpture, a noble piece of 
15th-century Florentine work by a pair of Tuscan sculptors, 
represents the ^Judgment of Solomon, typifying Justice : 
this group is best seen from the seat by the red porphyry 
figures opposite. 

The newer semi = Renaissance part of the Palace just 
examined, (from the figure of Venice in a circle to the Judg- 
ment of Solomon,) was probably erected about 142 4- 1442, 
by Giovanni Bho?i^ and his two sons, Pantaleone and 



92 GOTHIC VENICE: THE DOGE'S PALACE [iii. 

Bartolommeo. Remember Bartolommeo : you will meet 
him elsewhere. 

The magnificent doorway which gives access to the in- 
terior court-yard, is known as the Porta della Carta, because 
government proclamations were posted here. It is late 
Gothic with marked Renaissance tendencies, and was 
erected by Bartolommeo Buon (1438-43). On the summit, 
Venezia is enthroned between her lions, with sword and 
scales, and so named on the pedestal ; beneath, on the 
tympanum, winged children {putti) climb among rampant 
foliage ; at the top of the arch we see St. Mark, holding his 
Gospel, in a circle of Renaissance work ; beneath him, a 
late over-decorated window ; over the square doorway, a 
restored relief of Doge Cristpforo Moro, (but, as restored, he 
seems to me to have the features of Leonardo Loredan,) 
kneeling before the lion of St. Mark, (original destroyed 
in the French Revolution ;) in the niches by the sides, the 
Virtues, (Courage, Prudence, Hope, Charity,) named on their 
pedestals. Study this doorway with all its details as charac- 
teristic of the transition from Gothic to Renaissance. 

Next, go back to the Adam-and-Eve corner, to examine 
the capitals of the columns along this western fagade. 
The corner one (already noted) and the five which succeed 
it, belong to the old part of the building. 

(i) Sculpture and architecture, with small bits of coloured 
marble suggestively inserted, to mark its meaning : the 
figures (sainted masters with their pupils) are at work on 
various pieces of decorative detail : (2) heads of animals, 
tearing prey; (begin on front;) lion with stag; wolf with 
bird ; fox with cock ; griffon with hare ; boar with mast ; 
dog with bone ; cat with rat ; bear with honeycomb ; the 
whole creation groaneth and travaileth : (3) the trades ; 
stonecutter, goldsmith, shoemaker, carpenter, measurer, 
gardener, notary, smith : (4^ influence of planets on seven 
ages of man ; the moon governs infancy four years ; Mer- 
cury childhood ten ; Venus adolescence seven ; the sun 
maturity nineteen ; Mars middle age fifteen ; Jupiter old 
age twelve ; Saturn decrepitude till death ; death the penalty 



III.] GOTHIC VENICE: THE DOGE'S PALACE 93 

of sin: (5) human heads, races ; (6) marriage ; first glimpse 
at a balcony, courtship, presents, embraces, wedding, birth 
of a child, its upbringing, its death : (7) Months, thus : 
March ; April with May ; June ; July with August ; Septem- 
ber ; October with November ; December, sticking a pig ; 
January with February : (this is the first of the later capitals ; 
Ruskin — erroneously, I think — makes it the last of the early 
ones :) (8) female half-lengths : (9) fruits ; cherry ; pear ; 
cucumber ; peach ; gourd ; melon ; fig ; grape : (10) dupli- 
cate, copied from an old one : (n) duplicate : (12 and 13) 
duplicate: (14) full-length figures, draped: (15 and 16) 
duplicates: (17) children, very Renaissance: (18) Justice, 
continuing the subject above it : Justice, with sword and 
scales, enthroned between her lions ; then, lawgivers- 
Aristotle ; Lycurgus (?) ; Solon; the "Chastity of Scipio"; 
(he refuses a beautiful slave as a bribe ;) Numa building 
temples ; Moses receiving the law ; Trajan stopping on his 
way to a campaign to do justice to a poor widow ; the in- 
scriptions on the others are in Latin, on this in Venetian. 
Recollect, however, that all these capitals, though good, are 
modern copies; the originals are preserved in a ground-floor 
of the Doge's Palace. 

Do not at present enter the court-yard, but continue on 
past the main fagade of St. Mark's, turning to the right 
through the little Piazza dei Leoni, (on your L. the pseudo- 
classic fagade of the desecrated church of San Basso,) and 
holding straight down the narrow street, (the Calle di 
Canonico,) which leads to the canal (Rio Palazzo) at the 
back of the Palace. (Fronting you as you approach the 
bridge is the imposing and decorated Palazzo Trevisani^ 
in the Lombardi or Venetian early Renaissance style, 
built about 1500.) Stand on the next bridge to the R. 
to examine the E. or later Renaissance facade of the 
Doge's Palace, facing the Rio di Palazzo, which is best 
observed from this bridge (or the little quay beyond it) 
and the one by the Drunkenness of Noah. It is a fine 
specimen of High Renaissance work, well varied in its 
windows and decorations, but it lacks the picturesque beauty 



94 GOTHIC VENICE: THE DOGE'S PALACE [ill. 

of the Gothic portion. The absurdly over-rated Bridge of 
Sighs is a late and incongruous addition, ugly enough in 
itself, but picturesque in virtue of its height, its covered 
parapet, and its unusual position. It was built about 1590 
by Antonio da Ponte, the architect of the Rialto bridge, to 
connect the Palace with the Prison he had just erected 
beyond the Rio. Most casual visitors to Venice, curiously 
enough, carry away with them, as their main mental picture 
of the mighty mediaeval town, these late Renaissance bridges, 
which, of course, were never seen by the powerful Doges 
or the great painters, sculptors, and architects, who made 
Venice. There is nothing romantic about the Ponte dei 
Sospiri, which merely unites the Courts of Justice in the 
Palace with the Criminal Prison. 

Now, return to the Porta della Carta, and enter the 
inner court=yard of the Palace. 

The West and South sides of the court, (in brick in the 
upper story,) consist in the main of the older building of 
1340 (S.), and the later Gothic extension of 1430 (W.) ; 
but their two lower floors have been immensely remodelled 
into uniformity with the later Renaissance portion of the 
building. The arcade here has pointed arches, but all the 
decorations and columns are Renaissance in feeling. The 
E. fagade, completely coated with marble from top to 
bottom, forms the inner front of the Renaissance portion on 
the side canal, and is a very ornate and costly example of 
Venetian Renaissance decoration. It is imposing by virtue 
of its richness, and its numerous coloured marble insertions, 
so characteristic of the age and place ; but its upper floors 
harmonise ill with the semi-Gothic arcade of the loggia. It 
was erected in the late 15th century by Rizzo. Examine 
the characteristic detail, and compare with that of the 
Louvre. The main court also contains two beautiful bronze 
*wen=heads of Renaissance workmanship (i6th century). 

The small court, at the North end of this quadrangle, has 
a little fagade adjoining St. Mark's, erected in i52obyBer- 
gamasco, a good and more tasteful specimen of early- 
Renaissance workmanship. 



III.] GOTHIC VENICE: THE DOGE'S PALACE 95 

The great staircase in this Httle court, (known as the 
Scala (id Giganti^ from the statues at its summit,) was the 
entrance by which the nobility approached the palace. It 
was built by Rizzo in 1584, and is topped by colossal 
Renaissance statues of Mars and Neptune, (representative 
of the military and naval supremacy of Venice,) by Jacopo 
Sansovino (1554). (Note that the classic mythology now 
almost supersedes Christian symbolism.) Between them, 
over the arch, is St. Mark's lion. At the top of this stair- 
case the Doges were crowned, in the later ages of the 
Republic, (from 1521,) with the old formula, in Latin, " Re- 
ceive the ducal crown of the dukedom of the Veneti.'' 

Mount the staircase to the top of the second flight, to view 
the little fagade of the connecting link between St. Mark's 
and the Doge's Palace. On either side of the arch which 
faces you as you look back towards the Piazza, are statues of 
Adam and Eve, by Antonio Rizzo, 1462 ; fine specimens of 
the early-Renaissance nude. Above is a charming little 
balcony. The door under the arcade to the R. gives access 
to the Chapel of St. Clement in St. Mark's, and is the one 
by which the Doge usually passed into the church from his 
palace. We have already noticed it in the interior of the 
Basilica. 

Stand by the northernmost of the two well-heads in the 
great quadrangle, in order to examine the little facade by the 
cIocl«=tower. On the lower floor to the R. is a statue of 
Duke Francesco Maria I., of Urbino, general of the Republic, 
by the Florentine sculptor Bandini. It shows at once its 
Florentine character. The statues in the niches are antiques, 
(gods, and a muse,) but are freely restored. Only by the 
aid of the plan in Baedeker can you thoroughly understand 
the intricate intermixture of portions of St. Mark's with 
portions of the Doge's Palace in this curiously debatable 
function corner. 

The interior of the Doge's Palace was entirely gutted by 
the great fire of 1577, which destroyed all its early paintings 
and decorations. Those which it now contains are of a 
much later age, representing the period of the great painters, 



96 GOTHIC VENICE: THE DOGE'S PALACE [ill. 

Tintoretto, Paolo Veronese, and Palma the younger. They 
have little relation to the Gothic and Renaissance exterior. 
I strongly advise you, therefore, to defer your visit to the 
interior until you have studied the origin and development 
of Venetian painting in full at the Academy. You will then 
be able to place these fine later works in their proper 
position. I give an account of them, accordingly, in a 
subsequent section. 



IV 

RENAISSANCE VENICE 

THE PIAZZA AND PIAZZETTA 

WE have already obtained some introduction to 
Renaissance Venice in our examination of the 
Doge's Palace, where we have seen the transitional Gothic 
stage in the Porta della Carta, and much developed Renais- 
sance work in the great court-yard. In strictly chronological 
order, it is true, we ought next to take San Zaccaria, and the 
facade of the Scuola di San Marco, as examples of the rise 
of Renaissance architecture in Venice. For convenience 
sake, however, it will perhaps be best to say here the rest of 
what is necessary about the great group of buildings which 
surround the Piazza and Piazzetta. These are the real 
focus of Venice, old or new, and the visitor will naturally 
wish to know all about them before pushing his enquiries 
into remoter quarters.] 

The Northern Side of the Piazza is formed by a long and 
somewhat monotonous line of uniform buildings, known as 
the Procuratie Vecchie. These were the official residences 
of the nine Procurators of St. Mark, the principal officers of 
the Republic after the Doge. The lower portion of the great 
wing thus described was erected in 1496 by Pietro Lombardo ; 
the upper portion was added in 15 19 by Bartolommeo Buon 
the younger. This straight range of building, with its 
open arcade and continuous lines of round arches, may be 
regarded as highly characteristic of the si7nplicity and 
directness of the early Renaissance. 

Adjacent to it is the much more ornate Clock=Tower at 
G. V. 97 o 



98 RENAISSANCE VENICE [iv- 

its east end, near St. Mark's. This was erected in 1496, 
probably from designs by Antonio Rizzo, of Verona. Its 
arch gives access to the Merceria^ the principal shopping 
street of Venice, which winds hence tortuously to the Rialto 
Bridge. Here, as late as the reign of Charles II., Evelyn, 
accustomed only to the small mercers of London, saw stuffs 
exposed for sale which astonished him by their extraordinary 
variety and richness. The upper floor is occupied by a 
great gilt clock, showing the signs of the zodiac, and with 
the hours numbered from I. to XXIV., in the Italian fashion. 
Above it is a gilt figure of Our Lady with the Child, and the 
gilt lion of St. Mark, on a blue starry background. On the 
summit stand two bronze men-at-arms, who strike the hours 
with their hammers — a childish wonder. The whole effect 
of the Clock Tower is garish and unworthy of the position. 

Now, (neglecting for the moment the other sides of 
the square,) proceed into the Piazzetta, to examine the 
Libreria Vecchia, the noble building which forms its west 
side, worthily balancing the front of the Doge's Palace. 
This triumph of Renaissance art was begun by Sansovino 
in 1536; it consists, below, of an open loggia ; above, of a 
continuous arcade with embedded columns. The parapet 
is adorned with numerous (inferior) statues. The caryatides 
at the main doorway under the arcade are by Alessandro 
Vittoria. Symonds justly remarks that one cannot regard 
this noble, light, and sumptuous building without echoing 
the praise of Palladio, that nothing more beautiful of its 
kind had been erected in Italy since the days of ancient 
Rome. It marks the second or triumphant stage of the 
Venetian Renaissance. The decorated character of the 
fine arcade, with its sculptured figures over the arches, and 
its festoons of flowers and fruit, may be well contrasted with 
the stern simplicity of the slightly earlier Procuratie Vecchie. 
Observe, too, how the idea of two more or less open ranges 
of arches, one above another, is directly inherited by 
Venetian Renaissance from Venetian Gothic and Venetian 
Romanesque. 

Next, proceed round the corner of the Piazzetta on to the 



IV.] RENAISSANCE VENICE 99 

Molo or lagoon front, in order to inspect the fagade of the 
Libreria Vecchia towards the lagoon. The building once 
contained the splendid library of the Republic, begun by a 
legacy from Petrarch, and largely added to by Cardinal 
Bessarion. This glorious Library, combined with the 
magnificent Aldine editions of the classics, serves to remind 
us that in the i6th century Venice was one of the capitals of 
learning, as well as the unrivalled capital of commerce. 

To the L. of the Library on this side stands the sombre 
building of the Zecca, or ancient Mint, also erected by 
Sansovino, though in a much severer and heavier style, in 
1536. The ground floor is now occupied by the P. and O. 
Steamship Company. The upper floors have somewhat 
stern windows, divided by interrupted Doric and Ionic 
columns, in the first and second stories respectively. The 
zecchmOy or sequm, derives its name from this building. 

This will also be a convenient time to visit the Cainpa= 
nile, or bell-tower of St. Mark's, which (as usual in Italy) 
stands detached from the church, just opposite the Porta della 
Carta. The first bell-tower on this site was built in 888 ; 
the present Campanile was probably erected in 1329. The 
marble top was added in 1417 ; and this was crowned, just 
a century later, with a gilt Renaissance figure of an angel, 
i6ft. in height. In 1540 Sansovino added at its base the 
beautiful and much criticised little late-Renaissance portico, 
known as the Loggetta, which was used as a waiting-room 
for the nobles outside the Doge's Palace, and later as a 
guard-house. It has fine bronze gates, (later, 1750,) 
and beautiful emblematic small bronze statues^ from L. to 
R., of Peace, Mercury, Apollo, and Pallas, by Sansovino. 
(Peace brings commerce, arts, and learning to Venice.) 
The reliefs above (by Geronimo da Ferrara) represent Venice 
enthroned between her lions, as Queen of the Adriatic and 
of the sea, with sea-gods wafting to her the wealth of the 
nations : at the sides, Jupiter, symbolising her dependency 
of Crete, and Venus, symbolising her other dependency of 
Cyprus. These reliefs are very characteristic of the later 
Venetians' proud sense of their own maritime importance. 



\ 



100 RENAISSANCE VENICE [iv. 

If I do not dwell at length upon such noble Renaissance 
works, it is not because they are not worthy of close atten- 
tion, but because, being comparatively modern in idea and 
treatment, they need little explanation. They are Mytho- 
logical, not Christian, embodying frankly pagan ideas. 

[The Campanile is ascended, not by a staircase, but by 
a continuous winding inclined plane, easy to mount, and 
tolerably well-lighted, though sadly malodorous. Admission 
15 c. per person ; always open. I advise you only to ascend 
it after you have seen all Venice, when you will be able to 
recognise the various churches or palaces, and so derive 
more pleasure from the view from the summit. The build- 
ings of the city are well seen, but none of the canals. The 
outlook from the campanile of San Giorgio Maggiore, how- 
ever, is still finer and more characteristic, and the ascent is 
much cleaner.] 

* From the Campanile you may proceed to observe the 
three great flagstaffs which stand in the Piazza in front of 
St. Mark's, and from which once floated the standards of 
the three great Dependencies of Venice — Cyprus, Crete, and 
the Morea, now replaced by that of the kingdom of Italy. 
(On festa days the crimson flag of St. Mark's, with the 
winged lion in gold, and the frayed edges, which flaps from 
the flagstaff of the Basilica itself, contrasts well with the 
crude and gaudy modern hues of the Italian tricolour.) 
The "^bronze bases of these flagstaffs are splendid specimens 
of Renaissance casting, by Alessandro Leopardi, the sculptor 
of the great statue of Colleoni which we shall see hereafter. 
They were erected (1505) under the Dogeship of Leonardo 
Loredan, as their inscription states. The central base has 
exquisite medallions with the Doge's profile, obviously taken 
from the beautiful portrait by Giovanni Bellini, now in the 
National Gallery in London. The reliefs beneath, on all 
three flagstaffs, are symbolical of the maritime supremacy of 
Venice : on the centre one, the Republic carries Justice 
where she goes, and is followed by Peace, Commerce, and 
Plenty. The winged lion of St. Mark upholds the wooden 
shafts. 



IV.] RENAISSANCE VENICE 101 

The South Side of the Piazza is formed by the Procuratie 
Nuove, which were added by Scamozzi in 1584 as additional 
residences for the Procurators of the Repubhc. Before that 
date the site on which they stand had been occupied in part 
by the old church of San Geminiano, while a row of ancient 
houses spread to the west from the base of the Campanile. 
(The shape and arrangement of the Piazza at this time are 
well shown in a famous picture by Gentile Bellini in the 
Academy, Room XV.) Scamozzi erected his building on 
the site of the (demolished) old church in order to continue 
the architecture of Sansovino's Libreria Vecchia on this 
side of the enlarged square. As the new building would 
have looked low and squat, however, if continued along so 
large an area at the same level, he added an upper story 
to the design. (That is why I have brought you here in 
this apparently capricious order.) This poor later Renais- 
sance work has neither the simplicity of the Procuratie 
Vecchie nor the graceful and ornate beauty of the Libreria ; 
it well indicates the gradual modernisation and vulgarisation 
of the Renaissance ideals. The first ten windows on the 
side towards the Library have figures on the pediments, 
evidently suggested by Michael Angelo's Night and Morn- 
ing, but of little artistic value. The western portion of the 
building, no doubt for reasons of economy, is less richly 
decorated. At the present day, the Procuratie Nuove, the 
Libreria, and the Zecca, have been united inside to form 
(artificially) the Royal Palace^ which was the Emperor of 
Austria's, and is now the King of Italy's, official residence 
when in Venice. Its pretty garden, at the rear of the 
Procuratie, faces the lagoon. The Palace contains a few 
works of art, which, however, you had better leave unseen 
till you have visited everything else noticed in this volume. 

Till the Napoleonic occupation, the west end of the 
Piazza was occupied by the new church of San Geminiano, 
erected by Sansovino, (who was buried in it,) in place of the 
old one, as well as by a i^w other unimportant buildings. 
But in 1 8 10 Napoleon pulled down Sansovino's church in 
order to erect in its place the connecting arcade and mass 



102 RENAISSANCE VENICE [iV. 

of buildings still known as the Nuova Fabbrica. This, 
though adapted to a certain extent to the prevailing tone of 
the architecture of the Piazza, has decorations in the insipid 
pseudo-classical style of the First Empire. It was added in 
order to contain the grand staircase for the rambling palace 
formed by Napoleon out of the older buildings. 

The visitor will thus see that the edifices which surround 
the Piazza and Piazzetta, (including St. Mark's and the 
Doge's Palace,) are of very different dates, and that they 
represent almost every successive phase of Byzantine, 
Gothic, early Renaissance, high Renaissance, late Renais- 
sance, and modern architecture. Fortunately, however, 
they do ftot include any rococo building. 

The Piazza is much wider at its eastern than at its 
western end, but the architecture has been cleverly ar- 
ranged as far as possible to conceal this inequality. It is 
instructive to compare the present shape and the present 
buildings with those shown in Bellini's picture. I need 
hardly add that the shops which now occupy the ground- 
floors of this magnificent suite of republican palaces are a 
purely modern invasion. In the great days of Venice, the 
Piazza and Piazzetta were entirely given up to the offices 
of the State and the residences of the chief magistrates 
of the Commonwealth. 

Spend as much of your time as possible in and about the 
Piazza. Remember that nothing in Venice can compare in 
importance with St. Mark's, the Doge's Palace, and the 
buildings that flank them. Do not waste on minor churches 
precious hours that might be given to these most beautiful 
and instructive monuments. 



THE FOUR GREAT PLAGUE- 
CHURCHES 

r"\ 7'ENICE, during the Middle Ages, was much ex- 
L V posed to the chance of plague, owing to its 
constant commercial intercourse with the crowded and 
pestilence - stricken towns of the Levant. When an 
epidemic occurs in modern times, we improve the main 
drainage and the sanitary conditions ; the Middle Ages, 
under similar circumstances, regarding the disease as a 
divine punishment, vowed and built a new church to an 
influential plague-saint In consequence of this habit the 
whole coast of the Adriatic abounds in plague-churches, 
and in votive pictures dedicated by those who escaped, or 
recovered from, the malady. It is therefore well, before 
attacking the deliberate study of Venetian painting at the 
Academy, to become acquainted on the spot with some at 
least of the Four Great Plague-Churches of the city. In 
the Academy we shall find many such pestilence-pictures, 
divorced from the surroundings for which they were origi- 
nally intended ; and we can therefore the less comprehend 
their import and significance. In the plague-churches, on 
the other hand, we see them in their original places, and 
m the midst of other objects of the same character. For 
this reason I would urge the visitor to take this peculiar 
group of churches (or at least the first two of them) thus 
early in his course ; and I recommend him to inspect them 
in the following order, which is not chronological, but which 
is so arranged as best to enable him to grasp their peculiar 
meaning. I have also intentionally laid most stress here. 



103 



104 THE FOUR GREAT PLAGUE-CHURCHES [v. 

not on their general artistic features, but on those points 
which help to show their central purpose.] 

A. THE SALUTE. 
[In 1630 Venice was visited by an epidemic of the plague 
of unusual violence. In the city, 46,000 persons perished ; 
in the lagoons, 94,000. As a votive offering iox escape from 
the pestilence, the Republic vowed a church to Our Lady 
of Health or of Deliverance, (Madonna della Salute :) and 
in 1 63 1 it began the erection of the existing building of 
Santa Maria della Salute. The church was designed in 
a debased form of the then fashionable Palladian style by 
Longhena, a pupil of Palladio's ; and, for an edifice of its 
period, it is not ungraceful in general proportions. Almost 
every object of art it contains (many of them brought from 
earlier buildings) bears reference to pestilence. Though it 
is the youngest of the plague-churches, I take it first, 
because it is in some ways the most characteristic] 

The Salute may be reached (i) by gondola direct ; (2) 
by steamer to the Accademia (10 c.) ; thence the pleasantest 
way is to turn down the broad street, L. of the Academy, 
till you reach the Fondamente delle Zattere ; there turn to 
the L., cross three bridges in a direct line, and take the 
broad street on the L., which leads you at once within sight 
of the Salute. 

The exterior is singularly effective from a distance, 
'(especially as viewed from the Grand Canal,) with its two 
unequal domes, and its pair of picturesque bell-towers at 
the back. Its situation is splendid. The fine flight of steps 
before it also add greatly to its effectiveness. Seen nearer, 
however, it ceases to be beautiful ; the decorations are 
florid and overloaded, while the buttresses (themselves a 
sham, since the cupola is of wood and therefore needs no 
support) are affectedly twisted into wriggling scrolls. The 
figures in the niches, (St. George, St. Theodore, the Evan- 
gelists, the Prophets, Judith with the head of Holofernes, 
etc.,) do not deserve individual inspection. At the apex of 



v.] THE FOUR GREAT PLAGUE-CHURCHES I05 

the pediment is placed a statue of the patroness, Our Lady, 
who thus presides over the church erected in her honour. 

The interior is circular, or rather octagonal, with eight 
radiating chapels on the outer row. R, of the entrance are 
three altars, with (poor) scenes from the life of the patroness, 
Our Lady, by Luca Giordano : her Presentation in the 
Temple, her Ascension, her Nativity. Over the 3rd altar 
to the L. of the entrance^ the Descent of the Holy Ghost, 
by Titian^ a weak specimen of the master, much blackened 
by time. 

The High Altar, opposite the main entrance, in the 
second circular portion or Presbytery, under the back dome, 
has a vulgar Baroque sculptured altar-piece by Justus le 
Court : Venice at the feet of Our Lady, imploring protection 
from the plague ; to the R., Our Lady despatches an angel 
to repel the dark demon of the pestilence. (I only mention 
this ugly and florid work because of its strikingly illustrative 
deprecatory character.) The monolithic columns of the 
Presbytery are from a Roman temple at Pola in Istria. 
On the ceiling. Four Evangehsts and Four Fathers by 
Titian. 

L. of the altar is the entrance to the Sacristy, which 
contains a number of typical plague-pictures. R. of the 
door a Girolamo da Treviso ; in the centre, the protector 
against pestilence, San Rocco, lifting his robe to show his 
plague-spot ; (see later under the church of San Rocco ;) 
R., St. Sebastian, wounded with the arrows of the pesti- 
lence ; L., St. Jerome, patron saint of the painter, with his 
lion and book ; a very characteristic and speaking plague- 
picture. On the wall beyond, a Madonna and Child ; 
close by, St. Sebastian, by Marco Basaiti^ another plague- 
picture. Over the altar, '''Titian : Venice preserved from 
the plague of 15 10, in which Giorgione died. (It was 
painted for the church of Santo Spirito in 15 13, and brought 
to this new plague-church in 1656.) In the centre sits St. 
Mark enthroned, as representative of Venice, his curious 
seat apparently suggested by the sacred stone of the Re- 
public, the Pietra del Bando. A cloud flits over and casts 



106 THE FOUR GREAT PLAGUE-CHURCHES [v 

a shadow on his face, indicating that the plague has at- 
tacked Venice. It is, however, clearing away, and the 
Evangelist's body is in bright sunshine. To the R., the two 
great plague-saints, St. Sebastian, shot through with arrows, 
and San Rocco, lifting his garment to show his plague-spot. 
To the L., the two medical saints, Cosmo and Damian, with 
their surgical instruments and boxes of ointment : Damian 
seems to point to St. Roch's symptoms, as if in consultation. 
The whole thus represents the preservation of Venice after 
a severe pestilence by the intercession of St. Mark, whose 
body she possesses, and of San Sebastian and San Rocco, 
to both of whom she has erected churches, while of one 
she holds the actual remains ; as well as by the skill and 
care of her medical profession, with the aid of the patron 
saints of the faculty. This is, perhaps, the most character- 
istic example you could find in Europe of a local plague- 
picture. As a specimen of Titian, it belongs to his early 
period, when he was still strongly influenced by Giorgione : 
but I advise you to defer these questions of the evolution of 
art till after you have visited the Academy. It has been 
badly restored. 

One entire wall of this sacristy is occupied by *Ttnto- 
rettds Marriage at Cana in Galilee, a large dark picture, 
much praised by Ruskin — " colour as rich as Titian's ; light 
and shade as forcible as Rembrandt's " — but ill seen in its 
present position. Such a festive work obviously does not 
belong to a plague-church ; it is one of the subjects usually 
painted for the refectories of monasteries, and, as a matter 
of fact, this example was brought from the refectory of the 
Brotherhood of the Crociferi. Long perspective ; fine effect 
of light : golden-haired Venetian ladies ; no sacredness. 

On the ceiling are three paintings by Titian^ not specially 
related to the main subject of the church ; they represent 
the Death of Abel, Abraham's Sacrifice, and the Death of 
Goliath, This Sacristy contains several other good pictures, 
(including one "^lunette, skied, from the tomb of Doge 
Francesco Foscari,) which, however, I advise you to neglect, 
as they do not fall in with the scheme of the church, and 



V.J THE FOUR GREAT PLAGUE-CHURCHES I07 

are by no means among the most interesting objects in 
Venice. In the ante=sacristy is a good 15th-century kneel- 
ing statue of Doge Agostino Barbarigo. 



(Close to the Salute, on the W., rises the beautiful 14th- 
century Gothic apse of the church of the Monastery of 
5an Qregorio, now secularised. The courtyard of the 
abbey, let out in tenements, may be reached by crossing 
the bridge and taking the first turn to the R. Though very 
dilapidated, it is, perhaps, the most picturesque court in 
Venice. Its gate towards the Grand Canal is quietly 
beautiful, and has a quaint figure of the patron, St. Gregory, 
over the doorway.) 

B. SAN ROCCO, AND THE SCUOLA DI 
SAN ROCCO. 

[The most peculiarly Venetian of the plague-saints of the 
city is St. Roch or San Rocco, whose actual body lies in the 
church named after him, as the body of St. Mark lies in 
the Ducal Chapel. This body was in the 15th century one 
of the most precious possessions of Venice. 

S. Roch (born about 1285) was a native of Montpellier 
in Languedoc, who devoted his life to nursing the sick in 
hospitals. (If possible, before visiting the buildings, read 
his life in full in Mrs. Jameson's Sacred and Legendary Art; 
I epitomise here as much of his history as is absolutely 
necessary for comprehension of the church and scuola.) 
At Piacenza, while nursing in the hospital, he found himself 
plague-stricken ; an ulcer had broken out on his left thigh, 
and, in devotional pictures, he is generally represented 
raising his robe to show this deadly symptom. Supported by 
his pilgrim's staff, (always his attribute in art,) he crawled 
feebly to a wood, where his little dog alone attended him, and 
brought him a loaf once a day miraculously from the city. 
An angel also dressed his wound and healed him. His 
subsequent adventures are immaterial ; he died, unknown 
and a prisoner, in his native town : but on the strength of 
these episodes, he became a local plague-saint of great 



I08 THE FOUR GREAT PLAGUE-CHURCHES [v. 

renown at Montpellier, elsewhere unimportant till the 15th 
century. In 14 14, however, during the sittings of the 
Council of Constance, an epidemic of plague broke out in 
that city ; and on the advice of a German monk who had 
travelled in Languedoc, the effigy of St. Roch was carried 
in procession through the streets to abate it : whereupon the 
pestilence shortly disappeared. This episode gave the man 
of Montpellier great vogue as a plague-saint. In 1485, 
during the ravages of a plague in Venice, certain Venetian 
conspirators stole the body of St. Roch from its shrine at 
Montpellier, and carried if off to their own city, where it was 
publicly received by the Doge and senators. A splendid 
church was at once designed to cover it, and a community, 
already existing for the care of the sick poor, engaged 
themselves to pay for its erection. The stately guild-house 
of this brotherhood adjoins the church, and is decorated by 
noble frescoes of Tintoretto and his pupils. Tintoretto, 
(Jacopo Robusti,) the last great painter of Venice, (15 18-1594,) 
worked here for 18 years, having received the commission 
to paint the whole Scuola. His works in this hall are 
technically of the highest merit, for draughtsmanship, com- 
position, and contrasts of light and shade : but they are dark 
and gloomy, and, being ill lighted, have little attractiveness 
for the general public. He was a colossal and indefatigable 
genius, full of imagination and audacity : but he often 
spoiled his finest works by his love of display, his inveterate 
habit of posture-making, and his inability to resist showing 
off his powers of drawing, especially as regards figures in 
violent action. No great artist has been more variously 
appreciated. 

The Scuola is open daily from 10 to 3, i franc per person. 
Morning light desirable. ] 



San Rocco is best visited from the steam-boat station of 
San Toma. Thence, strike as straight inland as you can go, 
past San Toma church, till you come to the gigantic Gothic 
mass of the Frari. The^ passage to the L. of this huge 
brick building leads into a square. In front of you rises the 



v.] THE FOUR GREAT PLAGUE-CHURCHES I09 

church of 5an Rocco. To the L. you see the palatial 
Renaissance fagade of the Scuola. The authorities un- 
fortunately compel you to visit the latter first. Note before 
doing so the lofty and imposing marble front of the Scuola, 
early Renaissance, somewhat Roman in type, 15 17, a 
princely specimen of Venetian architecture. 

Enter by the far door on the R., near a wooden figure 
of San Rocco lifting his robe to show his plague-spot. Pay 
I franc each person, for the Church and Scuola inclusive. 
The word Scuola means a religious fraternity or charitable 
guild. 

You reach first the lower hall of the Scuola, far less 
handsome than the upper. All the pictures hereafter enumer- 
ated are by Tintoretto, unless I state to the contrary. Those 
who wish for a complete analysis of these celebrated works, 
longer than can be undertaken within the compass of this 
Guide, may turn to the 3rd volume of Ruskin's Stones of 
Venice^ where they are enthusiastically rather than critically 
described. A good and more moderate account is also given 
of them in Karl Kiroly's Painti?igs of Venice. Catalogues 
on panels are provided in each room ; I will therefore only 
call special attention to those works which particularly 
refer to the central purpose of the Church and Scuola. 

L. wall, opposite to you as you enter. Scenes from the 
Infancy : Annunciation, "^Adoration of the Magi, Flight 
into Egypt, and Slaughter of the Innocents ; all highly 
characteristic of the comparative realism which Tintoretto 
introduced into sacred subjects. (But you will understand 
this better after visiting the Academy.) The small pictures to 
the L. and R. of the altar (ill seen) represent the two desert 
female saints, St. Mary Magdalen and St. Mary of Egypt, 
in dark landscapes. They typify the desolate condition of 
the plague-stricken. Over the altar^ statue of San Rocco, 
(by Campagna,) lifting his robe, as usual, with his pilgrim 
staff, and the dog that brought him bread in the wilderness. 
(Wilderness subjects are naturally characteristic of this 
Scuola.) R. wall, between the staircases. Circumcision of 
Christ ; beyond it, Assumption of Our Lady. 



no THE FOUR GREAT PLAGUE-CHURCHES [v. 

Mount the staircase. 

First landmg, over the opening on the R., "^ Annunciation, 
by Titian ; over the opening on the L., * Visitation, by 
Tintoretto. 

On the sides of the upper staircase^ late Renaissance 
pictures (17th century) representing the plague, with the 
intercession of Our Lady. In the do77ie overhead, by 
Pellegrini^ San Rocco introducing to Charity a personage 
symbolical of the Scuola di San Rocco. 

The splendid upper hall of the Fraternity — a magnificent 
and palatial apartment — is decorated throughout with paint- 
ings by Tintoretto. The place of honour over the altar is 
occupied by an altar-piece of the Glorification of San Rocco 
amid the plague-stricken. L. and R. are statues by Cam- 
pagna of St. Sebastian and St. John the Baptist, — the first 
as a companion plague-saint, the second as the first and 
most typical saint of the wilderness. He foreshadows San 
Rocco in the wilds near Piacenza. 

Around the walls are New Testament pictures, parallels 
to events in the life of San Rocco. The servant follows the 
Master. 

L. wall, (beginning at the end remote from the altar,) 
Adoration of the Shepherds, Baptism of Christ, Resurrec- 
tion, Agony in the Garden, Last Supper ; curiously arranged 
so that the more important picture occupies the central wall 
between the windows, 

R. wall, beginning at the same end. Loaves and Fishes, 
Raising of Lazarus, Ascension, Pool of Bethesda, Tempta- 
tion in the Wilderness. Note the relation of most of these 
subjects to the trial of the Christian by the plague, — the 
Pool of Bethesda representing healing ; the Temptation in 
the Wilderness symbolising the sifting of the faithful by 
sickness ; the Raising of Lazarus, the unexpected recovery 
of serious cases, and so forth. 

On the end wall, between the windows, (almost im- 
possible to see,) the brother plague-patrons, San Rocco and 
St. Sebastian. 

I am not myself a Tintoretto enthusiast, and therefore I 



v.] THE FOUR GREAT PLAGUE-CHURCHES III 

feel incompetent to criticise these fine and pregnant pictures ; 
for rapturous comment, I must refer the reader to Ruskin. 
But they need little explanation of the kind which it is the 
purpose of these Guides to afford ; and they should be 
carefully studied by the visitor at his leisure on his own 
account. 

The ceiling contains, in its great central panel, the 
Plague of Serpents and Raising of the Brazen Serpent ; 
subjects obviously symbolical of the plague. The square 
panels on either side of this compartment represent Moses 
Striking the Rock, and the Fall of the Manna ; both clearly 
typical of healing. Elijah and the Angel prefigures St. Roch 
and the Angel. All the other subjects of this ceiling, which 
are fully described on the small hand-screens supplied by 
the custodian, are symbolical of, or parallel with, the 
episodes in the life of San Rocco described in the Introduc- 
tion. Daniel in the Den of Lions and the Three Children 
in the Furnace typify the trial of the Christian by suffering 
— and so forth. 

The large door at the bottom of the hall (remote from the 
altar) leads into the Sala del Albergo, or guest-room of 
the Brotherhood, the finest apartment of this regal charity. 
Its general decorations afford a good picture of the wealth 
and dignity of the opulent old Venetian fraternities. 

The principal wall, which faces you, has Tintoretto's 
masterpiece, **the Crucifixion ; it requires careful study. 
The other works represent episodes of the Passion. On the 
ceiling is the Reception of San Rocco in Heaven by God 
the Father ; around are allegorical figures representing 
the various virtues of the patron saint. 

Before leaving, ask back your tickets for the church from 
the custode. 



The church of San Rocco, built in 1490, was entirely 
modernised in the i8th century, and possesses an ugly 
late-Baroque fagade, only interesting from the numerous 
figures of the saint which adorn it. 

The interior is bare and ugly. Over the first altar to the 



112 THE FOUR GREAT PLAGUE-CHURCHES [v. 

R. is a plague-picture by Rizzi, representing a late plague- 
patron, St. Francis of Paola, resuscitating a dead child. 
On the wall beyond it, below , the Impotent Man at the 
Pool of Bethesda waiting for the troubling of the waters, 
symbolical of the plague-stricken looking to Christ for suc- 
cour, a large, confused, unpleasant picture : above^ San 
Rocco in the wilderness, with the dog bringing him bread 
from the city ; to the R. and L. of this, suppliants imploring 
the saint for succour ; all these by Tintoretto. 

In the choir. High Altar, a figure of San Rocco, baring 
his leg to show the plague-spot ; to the R. and L., 
St. Sebastian and the desert Father, St. Jerome. On the 
walls, R. side, below, San Rocco attending the plague- 
stricken in the Hospital ; above, San Rocco healing the 
diseases of animals ; L. side, above, the capture of San 
Rocco at Montpellier ; below, the angel appears to the dying 
San Rocco in prison. The subjects are confused and 
difficult to understand. In the chapel R. of the choir is a 
miracle-working picture by Titian, the Betrayal of Christ. 
The other pictures in the church are uninteresting. I have 
brought you here thus early mainly in order to make you 
feel the importance of these plague-churches and plague- 
pictures at Venice. 

San Rocco may b*i visited with great advantage at a later 
stage, after you have traced the evolution of Venetian 
painting at the Academy ; you may then read Ruskin's 
elucidatory comments face to face with the pictures which 
called them forth. I do not deal with them here as works 
of art, but rather as elements in the plague-protective 
arrangements of contemporary Venice. 

C. SAN GIOBBE. 

[As a general rule, holy persons who died before the Chris- 
tian period are 7iot invoked by the Church as saints. But on 
the Adriatic coast of Italy, so exposed to plague, an exception 
was early made in favour of the Patriarch Job, the grievous 
sufferer from boils and blains, plagued by Satan "from the 
sole of his foot unto his crown " ; it was thought that he must 



v.] THE FOUR GREAT PLAGUE-CHURCHES II3 

feel a personal sympathy for the plague-stricken, so churches 
were dedicated to him and pictures painted for him through- 
out the whole of this ravaged region. No doubt the inter- 
course with the East itself, where the feeling for Old Testa- 
ment saints was always stronger, contributed to this some- 
what irregular practice, an excuse for which was found in the 
text, " Go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a 
burnt offering ; and my servant Job will pray for you : for 
him will I accept." But the truth seems to be that the 
plague-stricken in their despair were ready to take any 
chance ot relief that seemed to offer. (Jeremiah and other Old 
Testament personages also form similar exceptions.) 

In the poor and squalid district which lies to the north- 
west of Venice, the Franciscans, the Salvation Army of 
their day, built a church to St. Job, near the crowded 
and insanitary Jewish Ghetto. The adjacent parish, also 
Franciscan, is that of Sant' Alvise— ?>. St. Louis of Toulouse, 
the prince who gave up the inheritance of a crown for the 
coarse brown robe of a begging friar. A knowledge of these 
facts is necessary to a proper comprehension of San Giobbe, 
and of the works of art elsewhere removed from it. The ex- 
isting somewhat uninteresting church, in the early Renais- 
sance style, dates from 1462, and was designed by Pietro 
Lombardo. Though it Hes remote, and contains few objects 
of interest, I strongly advise a visit to it, and to the neigh- 
bouring church of Sant' Alvise, before the visitor begins 
his studies at the Academy.] 



San Giobbe may be reached, (i) direct by gondola ; (2) on 
foot, by the Merceria ; thence, turning R. at Goldoni's statue, 
along the new main thoroughfare known as the Corso, to the 
Cannaregio ; (3) by steamer (10 c.) to San Geremia station. 
All three routes unite at San Geremia, whence one may walk 
on either side of the Cannaregio or Canal di Mestre (R. 
side preferable). The great palace opposite, next to the 
church of San Geremia, is the Palazzo Labia, 17th century, 
imposing by mere mass. The first bridge over the canal is 
decorated (or the opposite) with grotesque heads of the worst 

G. V. H 



114 THE FOUR GREAT PLAGUE-CHURCHES [v 

baroque period, justly stigmatised by Ruskin for their un- 
speakable foulness and vileness of expression. Beyond it, on 
the L., the first building is the uninteresting Palazzo Manfrin^ 
(feeble picture gallery :) while on the R. towers the Ghetto 
Vecchio, looking from this point like a single building, but 
really a tangled mass of tenements. Go as far as the bridge 
with three arches, across the Cannaregio, and then turn to 
the L. A minute's walk brings you thence into the little 
Campo of San Giobbe, in front of the church and the desolate 
former Franciscan monastery. The lonely small yard, with 
its well and arcade, is strangely picturesque in its downfall. 
The best point about the church is its doorway, a fine piece 
ot early Renaissance work, in the style of the Lombardi. On 
the pilasters are admirable winding convolvulus plants, with 
exquisite birds ; the capitals are semi -classical, acanthus 
leaves and ox-sculls. In the lunette is a striking Franciscan 
relief, inferior in workmanship to the decorative detail, but 
full of inner meaning ; it represents Sinai, as a mount of 
light, upon which rays ot mercy descend from heaven ; to 
the L.. St. Francis kneels in prayer ; to the R., St. Job ; thus 
mingling the Jewish and Christian dispensations, and 
pointing out that plague and misery on the one hand, and 
salvation on the other, come to Jew and Christian alike. 
The close proximity of the crowded and insanitary Ghetto of 
course gives point to this impressive and speaking symbol. 
On the summit of the arch and on the entablature are placed 
excellent statuettes (probably by Pietro Lombardo) of three 
great Franciscan saints, all more or less connected with the 
ministry to the plague-stricken, — St. Antony of Padua, the 
patron of suffering children ; St. Bernardino of Siena, with 
his symbol, the I.H.S. ; and St. Louis of Toulouse, (Sant' 
Alvise ) in canonicals as Bishop, to represent the adjacent 
parish, also Franciscan. The whole work is thus very 
appropriate to a Franciscan mission church, m a poor and 
densely packed district, inhabited alike by Jews and Chris- 
tians. 

The interior has relatively few plague-objects, though one 
or two may be detected by the reader for hunself on the 



v.] THE FOUR GREAT PLAGUE-CHURCHES II5 

strength of the information already suppHed him. I will not 
here repeat it. There is also much good plastic work of the 
school of the Lombardi. Near the door, statuette of St. 
Antony of Padua, symbolically carrying the infant Christ. 
Left aisle, ist chapel, by Pietro Grimani, (circa 1550,) fine 
stone carving. 2nd chapel, of Florentine architecture and 
sculpture, (probably by Rossellino,) fine marble altar ; on the 
ceiling, the Four Evangelists, glazed terra-cotta, by Luca 
della Robbia : an intrusive bit of Florence at Venice. In 
the choir, exquisite "^reliefs and decorative friezes by Pietro 
Lombardo, erected at the expense of Doge Cristoforo Moro 
(the donor of the existing building) in 1462. Below 
is his tomb, bearing his device, the mulberry {moro) also 
by the Lombardi. In the Sacristy is a portrait of Doge 
Moro, copy, after Bellini . as well as a good picture by 
Previtali, Madonna and Child, with St. John Baptist and St. 
Catharine— a marriage of St. Catharine, (duplicate m the 
National Gallery in London.) Also, a terra-cotta bust oi St. 
Bernardino of Siena, the great Franciscan preacher. 

But the main reason why I have brought you thus early to 
this small church is this— its chief altar-piece was formerly a 
famous picture by Giovanni Bellini, which you will see here- 
after at the Academy — a plague-picture devoted to St. Job 
and his Franciscan fellow-saints — the meaning of which 
will only become apparent to you after you have seen this 
church with its expressive and allusive doorway. Go round 
the building, then, with these two main ideas in your head — 
first, that it is a plague-churchy dedicated to St. Job ; and, 
second, that it is a Franciscan church, full of memorials of 
the Franciscan missionary saints, who likewise ministered to 
the poor and suffering. 



Sant' Alvise, close by, may conveniently be visited at the 
same time. It was built by Antonia, daughter of Doge 
Antonio Venier, in 1388, in obedience to a vision in which the 
good Franciscan bishop, St. Louis of Toulouse, appeared to 
her miraculously. It was a nims' church and has therefore 
a nuns' singing gallery, screened by fine ironwork. Among 



Il6 THE FOUR GREAT PLAGUE-CUURCHES [v. 

its pictures is one, uninteresting, by the Heirs of Paolo 
Veronese, representing St. Louis at the feet of Pope Boni- 
face VIII. The building is chiefly famous, however, for 
eight small panels, absurdly overpraised by Ruskin, and 
attributed by him to Carpaccio as a boy of eight or ten. 
They are obviously the work of a poor imitator of the 
master's manner. The subjects are scenes from the Old 
Testament history. 

D. SAN SEBASTIANO. 

[St. Sebastian the martyr, who was shot through with 
arrows, but miraculously recovered, though he afterwards 
died by being beaten to death with clubs, was . from an 
early date the chief patron against plague and pestilence 
throughout the whole of Europe. (See his legend in Mrs. 
Jameson.) Arrows had been regarded, indeed, from clas- 
sical times as the common symbol of pestilence. A Jerony- 
mite monastery and church in honour of this most ancient 
and revered of plague-saints existed in early mediaeval 
Venice ; but the present remodelled building dates only from 
1 506-1 5 1 8, and is a tolerable specimen of the Renaissance 
art of the period. It is interesting, however, both as one of 
the Four Great Plague-Churches of the city, and also as 
being the favourite churcli of Paolo Veronese, who is 
buried in it, and who painted here some splendid scenes 
from the life of St. Sebastian and his companions. As the 
tourist will by this time be tolerably familiar with the art of 
the votive plague-offerings, I will not in this case lay so much 
stress as previously on these particular features. 

Paolo Veronese, when he first came from Verona to 
Venice, was employed by the Jeronymites to decorate their 
Sacristy, and also, later, the ceiling of their church. These 
were his first commissions, and they brought him into much 
notice. 

As this is a Jeronymite church, look out for St. Jerome as 
well as St. Sebastian. The monastery is dissolved : from 
its Refectory came the gorgeous Veronese of the Supper in 
the House of the Pharisee now in the Brera at Milan.] 



v.] THE FOUR GREAT PLAGUE-CHURCHES II7 

San Sebastiano may be reached, on foot, from the Zattere 
by continuing along the quay till you arrive at the Rio di San 
Sebastiano ; or, direct, in a gondola. 

The faqade is uninteresting, but has on the apex of its 
pediment a figure of the patron saint, wounded with arrows. 
Near the door, small figures of St. Sebastian and St. Jerome. 
On a house to the L. in the little Campo (once part of the 
monastery) is another statuette of the patron saint, with the 
crown of martyrdom. 

The interior is bare, but has a handsome painted 
ceiling. 

Begin with the R. wall. The \st chapel^ of St. Nicholas, 
has a fine seated figure of that holy bishop, enthroned, by 
Titian ; an angel holds his mitre ; beside him, the three 
balls which are his symbol. On the second altar^ partially 
hiding the altar-piece, is a dainty little "^Madonna by Paolo 
Veronese, with St. Antony of Padua (lily) and St. Catharine 
of Alexandria, the latter presenting a dove to the infant 
Saviour. St. Antony is a portrait of the prior of the 
monastery at the time it was painted. The third altar has 
a sculptured altar-piece by Tommaso Lombardo (154?) of 
Our Lady and the Child, with the infant St. John the 
Baptist, of a type made popular by the Florentine sculptors. 
The architecture of the niche is better than the marble group 
within it. The fourth altar^ (of black and white marble, with 
ugly spiral columns, symbolically mourning,) has a Crucifixion 
by Veronese, superior in feeling to most of his sacred works ; 
the attitudes of the fainting Mater Dolorosa and of St. John 
show increasing freedom of treatment ; the Mary Magdalen, 
however, though not without pathos, is one of his usual 
handsome Venetian women. (You will appreciate these 
pictures better after you have studied the development of 
Venetian art at the Academy.) At the sides are figures 
(by Alessandro Vittoria) of Our Lady's husband, St. Joseph, 
bearing the budded staff, and her Mother, St. Anna. 
Beyond the pulpit is the monwnent of Bishop Livio Podoca- 
taro, (d. 1555,) by Sansovino, a Renaissance work of a type 
with which we will hereafter become more familiar ; the 



Il8 THE FOUR GREAT PLAGUE-CHURCHES [v. 

recumbent figure of the Bishop lies on his sarcophagus ; 
above, Our Lady and the Child. 

The little chapel beside the apse has nothing of interest. 

The apse, with a dome, is entirely devoted to the glorifi- 
cation of St. Sebastian, and of his companion martyrs, St. 
Marcus and St. Marcellinus. The altar-piece is an Apotheosis 
of St. Sebastian, who is seen below, bound to the pillar at 
which he was shot. On the R. are St. Mark with his Gospel, 
(representing Venice,) and St. Francis with the cross and 
stigmata (representing the Franciscan Jeronymites : ) on the 
L., St. John the Baptist and St. Catharine of Alexandria, with 
the palm of her martyrdom ; above, in clouds. Our Lady and 
the Child, waiting to receive the soul of the glorious martyr. 

The large "^picture on the R. wall represents the final 
actual martyrdom of St. Sebastian, (who was beaten to death 
after recovering from his arrow-wounds,) before a Roman 
official habited like a great Venetian magnate of Veronese's 
own period ; the palatial late architecture, and the dogs and 
other accessories, are highly characteristic of the painter's 
manner. But as a whole the work, though with good points, 
is confused and turgid. 

The magnificent **picture on the L. wall may be regarded 
as one of Veronese's masterpieces. On the steps of a soaring 
and spacious Renaissance palace the two saints, Marcus 
and Marcellinus, with their hands and feet bound in ropes or 
chains, set out for martyrdom. Their mother, close by, (to 
the L.,) implores them to save their lives by abjuring Chris- 
tianity ; to the R., their father, a dignified old man with a 
long beard, in senatorial robes, adds the force of his prayers 
to their mother's. Friends surround and persuade them. 
But in the centre of the picture, St. Sebastian, a vivid and 
eager young Roman soldier in full armour, bearing a 
standard, encourages the martyrs to prove their devotion to 
the faith by going to their death gladly. The vigour, spirit, 
and dramatic action of the fiery young saint, consumed by 
zeal for his religion, and wild with enthusiasm, is very 
remarkable ; he seems to hurry us after him. The by- 
standers, the accessories, and the imaginary palatial archi- 



v.] THE FOUR GREAT PLAGUE-CHURCHES 1 19 

lecture, in the style of Sansovino's Libreria Vecchia, then 
comparatively lately completed, are all full of Veronese's 
feeling as well as of the sumptuous and spacious sense of 
16th-century Venice. 

On the L. ■wall is the organ, the shutters of which are also 
painted, by Veronese, with subjects more or less relating to 
the plague. On the outer shutters is the Purification of 
Mary in the Temple, a picture which almost foreshadows 
Rubens ; it seems to typify purification from the pestilence. 
On the inner shutters (when open) is the Pool of Bethesda, 
which, as we have seen at San Rocco, is a usual plague- 
subject. 

In the 1st chapel on this wall is a good bust of Paolo 
Veronese himself, surmounting his tomb. The 2nd chapel^ 
of St. John the Baptist, has a Baptism of Christ, by Veronese, 
interesting for comparison with earlier treatments both of the 
central figures and of the attendant angel. On the last altar, 
St. James the Greater, between two or three ill-discrimi- 
nated saints ; observe his scallop-shell, which is also quaintly 
represented in stone on the steps of the altar. (It was his 
symbol, worn by pilgrims to his great Spanish shrine of 
Santiago de Compostella.) 

The fine carved ceiling has *scenes by Veronese from the 
Life of Esther mentioned in the Introduction. Nearest the 
door, she goes to Ahasuerus ; centre, she is crowned queen ; 
nearest the apse, Mordecai's triumph. 

This church, though wholly given over to the cult of St. 
Sebastian, is perhaps in its symbolism the least characteristic 
of the great plague-churches. 



VI 

THE ACADEMY 

r'TT^HE great collection of Venetian pictures, the most 
j_ J_ important object to be seen in Venice, after St, 
Mark's and the Doge's Palace, is housed (since the French 
Revolution) in a building now known as the Accademia 
delle Belle Arti. But the edifice itself was erected (in 
great part) far earlier, and for a very different purpose ; and 
since some of its noble halls still retain their old shape and 
primitive splendour, while some few of its pictures still oc- 
cupy their original places, it may be well to know before- 
hand the history of the building. 

The Scuola della Carita (Brotherhood of Charity) was 
the earliest of the great Venetian Scuoie {not Schools, but 
lay charitable Fraternities :) and the Scuoie di San Rocco, 
di Sant' Ursula, and di San Giovanni Evangelista (the two 
last to be described later) were to some extent imitations 
of it. The Fraternity was founded in 1260, for the purpose 
of ransoming Christian captives among the Infidels and for 
other charitable objects. The larger part of the existing 
building is late in date, having been erected by the great 
Renaissance architect Palladio in 1552. In 1807, Napoleon, 
after his conquest of Italy, turned the place into an Academy 
of Art, and brought here many pictures from suppressed 
churches, monasteries, and charitable guilds. The collection 
has since been increased from various sources, and the 
building enlarged by recent additions. 

The Academy is the best place in which to form an idea 
of the consecutive development of Venetian art. It 



VI.] THE ACADEMY 121 

contains few but Venetian pictures ; and in the following 
description, I lay stress for the most part upon these only, 
to the comparative exclusion of alien Italian or foreign works. 
It is only necessary to know beforehand that native paint= 
ing came later in Venice than elsewhere in Italy, and that 
for many ages the Venetians were content with Byzantine 
works which they imported from Constantinople or Mount 
Athos. When a native school began to arise, it based itself 
curiously upon four distinct sources ; part of its spirit was 
Byzanti7ie or Byzantinesque ; part Uinbrimi^ of the school 
of Gentile da Fabriano, who painted in the old Doge's 
Palace ; part Padiian^ of the classical and formal school of 
Squarcione ; and part, very singularly, Gertnati or Rhenish, 
being derived from one Giovanni da Allemagna, (or Ala- 
manno, or Vivarini, or da Murano,) an artist who, whether 
Muranese by birth or not, was clearly trained in the Cologne 
School, the influence of which we shall abundantly trace 
through much subsequent Venetian painting. 

The official numbering of the rooms is neither chrono- 
logical nor well adapted for following out the history of 
Venetian art ; I therefore prefer to take the visitor through 
the Gallery, in the following brief notes, in an order which 
seems to me best calculated to give him a connected idea 
of the evolution of painting in Venice. If he will accept 
my directions, I think he will gain a better conception of 
the contents of the Gallery than he could obtain by walking 
straight through the rooms in the official order. 

Do not try to see the whole of the Academy at once ; 
come here often, and study slowly. If your time is limited, 
confine yourself mainly to Rooms XX., II., XV., XVI., and 
XVI I., with the Paris Bordone of "The Doge and the 
Fisherman" in Room X. 

The Academy is open on week-days from 9 to 3, i franc : 
on Sundays from 10 to 2, free. Take your opera-glass.] 



The Academy may be reached in three ways : (i) by 
gondola ; (2) by omnibus steamer, which stops at the door 
(10 c.) ; (3) on foot, thus : from the south-west corner of the 



122 THE ACADEMY [vi. 

P'mzzB, San Marco, through the Cal/e San Moise, past the 
appalling and ugly baroque fagade of the church of 5an 
Moise, (L.,) overloaded with fly-away ornament, (i66^,) in- 
cluding what are meant for camels but look like llamas ; 
then, by the Via 22 Marzo, past the uglier and still more 
barbarous fagade of 5. Maria Zobenigo, (1680 ;) obliquely 
(to the R.) across the Campo San Maurizio^ and obliquely 
(to the L.) across the broad Campo S. Stefano \ thence by 
the Iron Bridge to the door of the Academy. The view 
from the bridge, (or still better from the Campo beyond it,) 
looking back on the russet houses, the red tower of S. Vitale, 
(S. Vidal,) and the Palazzo Cavalli, recently renovated for 
Baron Franchetti, (a Murano glassmaker,) is picturesque 
and striking. 

Before entering the Academy, stand in the little Campo 
della Caritk, to the left of the main door, (with Minerva on 
a lion.) You have here, to the L., the secularised church 
of the Caritk (14th-century Gothic) now sadly ruined by 
alterations in its windows, and forming part of the Academy. 
In front of you stands the old gateway of the Saw la della 
Caritijt. Notice, centre, the gilt relief of Our Lady of Charity, 
attended by angels : the Child holds out his caressing hand 
to members of the Fraternity below. On the L. is St 
Leonard (bearing the fetters which are his symbol as patron 
of captives) with two members of the Brotherhood ; on the 
R., St. Christopher bearing the infant Christ. These form 
a charming memorial of the original purpose of the building : 
dated, 1377. 

Pay. Mount the stairs. The first room which we enter. 

Room L 
Hall of the Ancient Masters, 

contains the earliest work of the Venetian Painters. The 
splendid apartment also retains its original decoration as 
the Hall of the Scuola. It was adorned with a Renaissance 
roof at the expense of a brother named Cherubino Aliotti ; 
but as the rules of the Scuola prevented any member from 
putting his name on his gifts, he has preserved his memory 



VI.] THE ACADEMY 1 23 

allusively in the eight-winged cherubs, which form a rebus 
on his name, (Cherubino Ali-otti,) in the lozenge-panels of 
the handsome ceiling. 

The pictures in this room, though perhaps less interesting 
at first sight to the ordinary tourist as works of art than 
the developed masterpieces of later periods, must be care- 
fully studied by any one who wishes really to understand the 
development of Venetian painting. They form the start =• 
ingopoint, and strike the key-notes ; without them, you 
cannot rightly comprehend what comes later. 

Begin at the further end of the room, to the R. of the 
door which leads into the next hall. 

I. Jacobello del Fiore^ i433- Coronation of the Virgin, 
altar-piece from the Cathedral of Ceneda. In the centre, 
our Lord, enthroned, crowns his mother. On either side, 
clouds of cherubs in blue and seraphs in red. Beneath the 
throne, the four Evangelists, in niches, writing their Gospels. 
Below again, angels (perhaps the Holy Innocents) with 
musical instruments. On the L , a row of Prophets (named 
on scrolls :) Jeremiah, Solomon, David, etc. Behind them, 
a row of Saints, headed by St. Christopher ; each saint 
and prophet attended by an angel. On the R., a row of 
Patriarchs, headed by Moses. Behind them, a tier of saints 
again, with attendant angels. To the far L., below. Virgins. 
To the R., the Bishop of Ceneda, (a Dominican,) the donor 
of the picture, a small figure, kneeling ; behind him the 
sainted patron of his diocese ; then, St. Dominic, with the 
lily, as spiritual father of the donor ; St. Thomas Aquinas, 
philosopher of the Dominican order, with church and book ; 
and St. Francis, with the stigmata. A good picture in the 
hard, dry, early decorative manner. 

Compare this at once with a somewhat later version of 
the same subject (much repainted) by Antonio Murano and 
Giovanni Alamanno, (John the German,) *No. ^2)j at the 
corresponding place to the L. of the doorway. Above, 
Christ crowns his Mother, in the presence of the Father and 
the Holy Spirit. Beneath the throne stand the Holy Inno- 
cents (proved as such by analogy) bearing the column at 



124 ^^^ ACADEMY [vi. 

which Christ was scourged and the instruments of the Pas- 
sion. Further below, again, are the four Evangelists with 
their symbols, the angel, lion, eagle, and bull ; St. Luke, to 
the R., holds the miraculous portrait of the Virgin which 
he painted, and which is now in the chapel of Our Lady in 
St. Mark's. To the L., behind St. John, come two of the 
Fathers of the Church, St. Jerome, with his church and 
book, and St. Gregory with the Papal tiara ; to the R., 
behind St. Luke, we see St. Ambrose and St. Augustine, 
the former holding the bones of St. Protasius and St. Ger- 
vasius which he discovered by a miracle. In the back- 
ground looms a crowd of saints, conspicuous amongst whom 
are St. Agatha, with her breasts in a dish ; St. Barbara, with 
her tower ; St. Mary Magdalen, with the alabaster box of 
ointment ; and St. Catharine, with her wheel, all to the L. 
Many other saints can be discriminated by their symbols. 
The painting (1440) marks an advance upon the last example, 
and shows German influence. This is a good specimen of 
the manner of the Vivarini, the able founders of the School 
of Murano. (Perhaps a copy of one in S. Pantaleone.) 
Continue down the right wall. 

2. Antonio Veneziano. A little altar-piece, with Madonna, 
St. John Baptist, and St. Jerome ; above, an Annunciation, 
in two divisions. 

3. Michele Giambono^ (who designed the mosaics in the 
Mascoli Chapel at St. Mark's :) about 1440. Altar-piece 
for the Scuola del Cristo at the Giudecca. In the centre, 
Christ, as patron of the Scuola : to the L., St. John the 
Evangelist ; then, St. Benedict, in black Benedictine robes, 
grasping the book of his rule ; to the R., St. Michael the 
archangel, holding the scales with which he weighs souls, 
and trampling on the dragon ; and St. Louis of Toulouse ; 
at his feet, the crown which he renounced for the monastic 
profession. 

4. Sijnone da Cusighe. (2nd half of 14th century.) Four 
little scriptural episodes, the Entombment, the Resurrection, 
the Ascension, and the Descent of the Holy Ghost. Notice 
in the last the tongfues of fire. 



VI.] THE ACADEMY 125 

5. Lorenzo Veneziano^ I357- Fragments of an altar-piece ; 
two good figures of St. Peter and St. Mark. Observe the 
conventional types of these two faces. 

7. Early School of Siena. Altar-piece for the Dominican 
Nunnery at Murano, with five Dominican female saints, 
in Dominican dress, with their proper symbols and their 
names inscribed ; beneath them, the visitation by which the 
Redeemer revealed himself miraculously to each. 

8. St. Benedict and donors. 

9. Lorenzo Veneziano^ 1357. Annun'ciation ; the angel, 
as usual, to the L., and Our Lady to the R. ; above, God 
the Father sends out the Holy Spirit and the infant Christ 
(a rare treatment :) L., St. Gregory and St. John the Bap- 
tist ; R., St. James the Greater, (erroneously described in 
the Catalogue as San Rocco,) with staff and scallop-shells, 
and St. Stephen, with the stones of his martyrdom. 

*io. Lorenzo Venezia7io. Splendid altar-piece (for Sant' 
Antonio di Castello) in several sections ; centre. Annuncia- 
tion, with tiny donors — compare it with the preceding ; L. 
St. John the Evangelist, St. Mary Magdalen, St. Dominic 
with the lily, and St. Francis with the stigmata, the latter 
nearest our Lord, this being the altar-piece of a Franciscan 
church : to the R., St. Antony the Hermit, with Tau- 
shaped cross on his robe, as patron of the church ; St. John 
Baptist, St. Paul (sword), and St. Peter (keys). Notice the 
conventional types of these faces : each apostle has his 
recognised cast of features. The figure of God the Father, 
above, sending down the Holy Ghost, was inserted much 
later, and is by Benedetto Diana. Study this altar-piece 
closely for its concentrated symbolism. 

\i. Jacopo Moranzone. Altar-piece of the suppressed 
church of St. Elena in Isola. Centre, the Assumption of 
Our Lady, who is being raised in a mandorla^ or almond- 
shaped glory, by six angels ; L., St. Helena, mother of Con- 
stantine, and patroness of the church for which this was 
painted, holding the True Cross which she discovered ; then, 
St. John Baptist ; R., St. Benedict, and St. Elizabeth of 
Hungary ; the later identification I think doubtful. 



126 THE ACADEMY [vi. 

13. Jacobello del Fiore^ 1436. Madonna della Miseri- 
cordia, sheltering votaries under her robe, a type which will 
recur frequently in Venice ; she wears the Child like a 
brooch on her bosom. Notice, above, the little Annuncia- 
tion in the lozenges. This is a family picture, the votaries 
representing two nuns and their relations. L. and R., the 
two St, Johns, Baptist and Evangelist. 

14. Maestro Paolo. Virgin and Child, with Pietk above ; 
on the panels, St. James the Greater, with his pilgrim's 
staff, and St. Francis with the stigmata. 

End wall, by the staircase: '''i^^ Jacobello del Fiore. A 
large and beautiful decorative panel from the Magistrates' 
Room in the Doge's Palace ; (Magistrato del Proprio.) In 
the centre, Venice, (or Justice,) with the sword and scales, 
enthroned between her lions \ L., the Archangel Michael, 
with his scales and the dragon ; R., the Archangel Gabriel 
with Annunciation lily ; the Latin inscriptions are interest- 
ing. The appropriateness of the picture to its original place 
is obvious. 

Left wall: 16, Catarhw. Very rude Coronation of the 
Virgin, 1365. Compare all these Coronations. 

18. Simone da Cusighe^ I393- Madonna della Miseri- 
cordia, as before, sheltering under her robe a group of 
votaries belonging to a religious order, two of them habited 
as penitents. Around are quaintly naive scenes from the 
life of St. Bartholomew ; above, he preaches, converts a 
princess of Armenia, destroys idols, baptises converts ; 
below, he is condemned by the king, is scourged, is flayed, 
and beheaded ; angels overhead bear his soul to heaven. 

■^19. Madonna and Child, by Niccolo di Maestro Pietro. 

20. Antoftio Vivarini, one of the leaders of the School ot 
Murano. Beautiful little decorative figure of St. Lawrence. 

21. Unknown Venetian of the i/^fh century. Altar-piece 
In the centre, Coronation of the Virgin — compare with the 
previous examples ; on the sides, naive representations, 
somewhat Byzantine in character, of the life of Christ ; 
Nativity, in a cave, with Adoration of the Magi, ox, ass, 
camels, etc. ; Baptism in Jordan, with angels holding the 



VI.] THE ACADEMY 1 27 

Saviour's clothes ; Last Supper ; Agony in the Garden, with 
Kiss of Judas, and Peter cutting off the ear of Malchus ; 
Way to Calvary ; Crucifixion ; Resurrection, with Christ and 
Magdalen in the garden ; Ascension, Christ raised in a 
mandorla before the Apostles and Virgin, with angels be- 
neath. All these scenes are good typical early examples in 
the treatment of their subjects. Note for comparison. The 
small series above represents the Descent of the Holy 
Ghost, and then the Life of St. Francis : — he receives Santa 
Chiara ; he strips himself of his worldly goods and clothing, 
to enter the little oratory at Assisi ; he receives the stigmata 
from a six-winged red crucified seraph ; his death, with his 
soul ascending ; and finally, his glory in heaven. These 
are the conventional St. Francis subjects. 

23. Nicolo Semitecolo. Coronation of the Virgin. 

24. Michele di Matteo Lambertini. Great altar-piece 
from the suppressed church of St. Elena, as before. In the 
centre, Our Lady and Child, with angels ; very charming, 
and showing already an approach to the peculiar Venetian 
type of the Madonna. Immediately to her L., the patroness 
St. Helena, with the True Cross ; next to her, St. Lucy, with 
her eyes in a dish : R., St. Mary Magdalen, her vase 
almost obliterated, and St. Catharine with her wheel ; above 
are the Crucifixion and the four Evangelists with their 
symbols. In the predella, beneath, is the history of the in- 
vention of the True Cross ; St. Helena arrives at Jerusalem ; 
she enquires as to the True Cross, with a debate of Jews as 
to its whereabouts (?) ; the invention of the Cross \ a miracle 
performed by the True Cross discriminates it from those of 
the two thieves found with it ; Helena adores the Cross, 
which puts to flight demons. I do not quite understand all 
these subjects. 

27. Bartolommeo Vivarini, one of the latest of the Murano 
School. Virgin and Saints, from the Dominican church of 
St. Peter Martyr at Murano. The saints are all Dominicans, 
in robes of the order ; L., in the place of honour, St. 
Dominic ; then, St. Thomas Aquinas ; R., St. Peter Martyr, 
the patron of the church, with the knife of his martyrdom 



128 THE ACADEMY [VI. 

in his head, and St, Vincent Ferrer, bearing his symbol, the 
handful of flames. 

28. Andrea da Murano, pupil of the last. Ruined altar- 
piece, a plague-offering (see account of the Four Great 
Plague-Churches) from St. Peter Martyr at Murano. In 
the centre, St. Vincent Ferrer, and San Rocco, the latter 
bearing his pilgrim's staff, showing the plague-spot on his 
leg, and attended by his angel ; beneath, one of the donors, 
kneeling. L., the other great plague-saint, St. Sebastian ; 
R., St. Peter Martyr, patron of the church, with his knife as 
before, each of these with a donor. Above, Madonna della 
Misericordia, with three Dominican saints, Dominic, Thomas 
Aquinas, and Catharine of Siena, and a royal saint unknown 
to me ; perhaps St. Sigismund. 

29. Quirizio da Murano, about 1450. Charming little 
Madonna and Child, which strikes a keynote for subsiequent 
half-length Venetian Madonnas. The child is sleeping, as 
often at Venice; the type of Our Lady has the true Venetian 
neck and features. The arrangement of the curtain and the 
landscape background are characteristic. 

30. Qtiirizio da Murano. Ecce Homo. 

31 and 32. School of the Vivarmi. Two doctors of the 
Church, St. Jerome and St. Augustine. Note their symbols. 
(Coarse workmanship.) 

34 and 35. School of the Vivarini. St. James the 
Greater, with his pilgrim's staff, and St. Francis with the 
cross and stigmata. 

This room gives you a good idea of the general character 
of Venetian painting before the rise of the Bellini, 

Disregarding the official arrangement of the rooms, so as 
to preserve chronological order, return now to the staircase 
by which you entered, and pass into the apartment to the 
left of the staircase, (R. as you now approach it.) 

ROOM XX. 

Hall of the Presentation. 

This fine hall was originally the Albergo, (guest-chamber 
or public reception room,) of the Fraternity. It still retains 



VI.] THE ACADEMY 1 29 

its magnificent decorations, and the pictures it contains were 
originally painted for the very places they now occupy. 
The gorgeous carved and gilded wooden roof represents 
Christ in Benediction, surrounded by the four Apostles with 
their symbols. 

Take a seat near the staircase, and examine, first, 

■^^62 5. Antonio Vivarini da Murano and Giovanni 
Alamanno^ Our Lady and Child with the Doctors of the 
Church (1445). This glorious work is the finest surviving 
specimen of the early Venetian school. In the centre, on a 
raised dais, sits Our Lady, enthroned, with the Child erect 
on her knees. The placid though somewhat insipid features 
of both show the influence of the Cologne school, in which 
it is probable that Giovanni (the German) received his art- 
education. The soft and pensive early-German tinge in 
Our Lady's face helped to form the later Venetian type of 
Madonna. The closed garden in which she is seated, as 
well as its beautiful architectural framework and throne, also 
recall the German Paradise-pictures. Four angels hold a 
canopy over the Madonna's head. To the L. stand two of 
the Latin Doctors of the Church ; St. Jerome, in his Car- 
dinal's hat and robe, holds the church in one hand, and his 
translation of the scriptures (the Vulgate) in the other ; with 
St. Gregory the Pope, in gorgeous canonicals, at whose ear 
the Holy Ghost, as a dove, whispers. To the R. are the 
other two Doctors, St. Ambrose of Milan, grasping the 
scourge, symbolical of his act in repelling the Emperor 
Theodosius from the gates of the church at Milan after the 
massacre at Thessalonica ; and St. Augustine, bearing his 
book De Civitate Dei. Both these are habited in their vest- 
ments as bishops. You cannot sit too long before this noble 
and beautiful picture, supreme in its own kind : examine 
every part of its decorative work carefully. Alike in colour 
and in sentiment it forms the foundation for all later 
Venetian painting. 

Over the entrance doorway *(626), Titian^s Presentation 
in the Temple, a picture painted for the place it now occu- 
pies, and with the stonework in its right-hand corner form- 

G. V. I 



130 THE ACADEMY [vi. 

ing an apparent continuation of the doorway beneath it. It 
was long removed from this spot, and had the two breaks 
below filled up with canvas ; but it has now, to its great 
advantage, been restored by the authorities to its original 
position. It treats its subject somewhat cavalierly, as a 
mere excuse for voluptuous painting, fine colour, and good 
architectural perspective. St. Joachim, in a yellow robe, 
with his back turned to the spectator, near the centre of the 
picture (just behind the little jumping dog) lays his hand on 
St. Anne's shoulder. These are the parents of the little 
Virgin, and they have brought her to the Temple to present 
her to the Lord. Our Lady herself, contrary to their ex- 
pectations, mounts the steps alone, and fearlessly halts near 
the middle. At the top, the High Priest opens his arms to 
receive her, attended by other priests. Below, near the foot 
of the stairs, spectators, who are mere sumptuous portraits 
of handsome Venetian ladies, observe her action with praise 
and admiration. To the L. stand senators and nobles, 
obviously portraits, and clearly more interesting to Titian 
than the sacred personages. The background is an ex- 
cellent landscape in Titian's own country of Cadore. The 
"celebrated" old woman with the basket of eggs in the 
centre foreground is undoubtedly suggested by a similar 
figure in a picture by Carpaccio, which we shall see here- 
after. This work is of course much later in date than those 
we have hitherto been examining, and I merely mention it 
here for local convenience. Its Renaissance architecture 
and its free Renaissance feeling and composition may be 
instructively contrasted with the fine early decorative ar- 
rangement of 625. I star it rather out of deference to 
universal opinion than from any personal liking for its 
tawdry sentiment. 

Now, ascend the red marble staircase at the end of the 
room, and continue a few steps along the corridor to the 
first door on the R., giving access to 

Room XVII. 
Hall of Qiovanni Bellini. 

This room contains much of the finest work of Qiovann! 



vl] the academy 131 

Bellini^ the first and noblest of the great Renaissance 
painters of Venice, as well as examples of his pupils or 
school. Bellini lived from 1427 till 15 16, and was brother- 
in-law of Mantegna. His life just covers the great develop- 
ing period of the Renaissance, and his works here deserve 
the closest attention. 

Begin to the R. of the door by which you enter. 

583. Giovanni Bellini, half-length Madonna and Child. 
This picture is in the earliest manner of the great painter, 
still betraying some faint traces of Byzantine influence, 
(especially observable in Our Lady's face, head-dress, and 
hands,) as well as something derived from the school of the 
Vivarini. As yet, Bellini's art has not succeeded in eman- 
cipating itself from conventional trammels. Compare this 
picture carefully with the great Madonna (by Antonio and 
Giovanni) in the last room we examined, and with the other 
Bellini Madonnas in this Hall. 

Beneath it, 616, School of Vivarini. Madonna and Child, 
with landscape background. 

Beyond the door, L. 581. Ruined altar-piece by Bar- 
toloimneo Vivarini. In the centre, a very wooden Nativity, 
with the usual features, — shed, star, wattled manger, ox and 
ass, etc. ; in the background an ill-drawn Annunciation to 
the Shepherds ; on the sides, L. and R., Peter and Paul, 
(keys and sword ;) further L., St. John Baptist, St. Andrew, 
St. Francis with the stigmata ; further R,, St. Jerome, St. 
Dominic, and probably St. Theodore. 

584. Bartolonimeo Vivarini. St. Mary Magdalen with her 
vase of ointment. 

582. Jacopo Bellini., father of Giovanni and Gentile. Half- 
length Madonna and Child. Compare this rather wooden 
specimen of Jacopo, (who was a pupil of the Umbrian Gen- 
tile da Fabriano,) with the more distinctly Venetian treat- 
ment of the same subject we have just seen in 583, noticing 
how far Giovanni has been influenced in his conception of 
Our Lady by the mosaics of St. Mark's. 

585. Companion to 584. Ba7'toloinmeo Vivarini. St. 
Barbara with her tower. 



132 THE ACADEMY [vi. 

(Room to the L., closed, contains some very ugly rococo 
furniture.) 

Beyond the door (no number) ^Cosimo Tura of Ferrara. 
Madonna and Child ; a characteristic specimen of this harsh 
but powerful Ferrarese-Bolognese master. 

**588. Mantegna. St. George and the Dragon, with one 
of his characteristic garlands of fruit and foliage. This may 
be reckoned among the gems of the collection. Examine 
it closely for its splendid workmanship and the delicate 
treatment of its accessories. It is so admirably and m.inutely 
touched that if you sit opposite it and look at it through an 
opera-glass which enlarges considerably, it gains rather than 
loses by magnifying. A masterpiece of its master. 

Next to this, 590. Antonelio da Messina. Madonna, from 
an Annunciation. 

^586. Attributed to Antonelio da Messina. Portrait of 
a young man ; rich brown-tinted complexion. This is more 
probably a Flemish work, and may perhaps be by Memling. 

591. Giovanni Bellini. Full-length Madonna, with sleep- 
ing Child on her knees. This should be compared with 
the Madonna by his father, 582, and with his own early 
work, 583. The graceful drawing of the Child here marks 
a great advance in art. 

The place of honour in the centre of this wall is occupied 
by *592, Cima da Conegliano, Tobias and the Angel. Altar- 
piece from the suppressed church of the Misericordia, much 
injured and restored, but still very beautiful. Cima was 
one of the greatest of Giovanni Bellini's pupils, and this 
may rank even now among his noblest works. In the 
centre, the Archangel Raphael leads the youthful Tobias, 
who holds in his hand the fish which was to cure his father's 
blindness. Both figures are extremely graceful. To the 
L. is St. James the Apostle, with his pilgrim's staff ; to the 
R., St. Nicholas of Myra, holding the three golden balls 
which are his symbol. Observe in this picture how the 
attendant saints, who in earlier times stood apart under a 
separate canopy of the altar-piece, or, if thrown into one 
panel, were treated as single figures in isolation, now begin 



VI.] THE ACADEMY 1 33 

to form a concerted group, though they do not yet take any 
part in a combined action, as is the case in the later treat- 
ment known as the Santa Conversazione. (Watch this 
development hereafter.) Here, the saints, though standing 
in the same beautiful landscape background with the central 
figures, are still purely abstract personages, assessors, «,s 
it were, of the main scene. The superior position of the 
Archangel and Tobias is quaintly shown by elevating them 
on a little mound or hillock. But observe at the same time 
how landscape is now beginning to assert itself. Though 
damaged, this picture is still fine. Good colour throughout : 
excellent draperies. 

593. Alvise Vivarini. St. Clara ; more probably a por- 
trait of a nun in the character of the saint, her patron. 

594. Giovanni Bellini. Half-length Madonna and Child, 
the latter standing (as often) on a parapet ; landscape back- 
ground. Probably an early work. Compare this with the 
other examples. 

■^*595- Five little allegories by Giovanni Bellini \ prob- 
ably panels from a decorative chest. These dainty and 
charming cameos should be closely examined for their ex- 
quisite almost classical painting. They are masterpieces 
in little. No satisfactory explanation of their subjects has 
yet been offered. 

^■^596. Giovanni Bellini, Half-length Madonna and Child, 
known as the Madonna of the Two Trees, one of the most 
beautiful which he ever painted. Compare it with 594 and 
the other examples. This may be numbered among the 
loveliest things in the collection. The strong columnar 
neck and dignified matronly character of Our Lady in this 
characteristic Venetian work should be closely observed, 
and mentally contrasted with the girlish ideal Florentine 
type, as well as with the intellectual character of the Lom- 
bard Madonnas. The Child in this picture is extremely 
charming and sweetly infantile. 

597. Cima da Conegliano. Madonna and Child, with 
characteristic landscape background of Cima's own country. 
He loved scenery, and is one of the founders of landscape 



134 '^HE ACADEMY [vi. 

art. Note, as time advances, the freer and more uncon- 
ventional attitudes given to the Child, and the removal of 
his clothing, seen in several pictures of the Bellini age in 
this Gallery. (Perhaps a copy.) 

598. Boccaccio Boccaccino, a Cremona painter (1495 to 
1518.) Jesus among the Doctors ; the Christ with youthful 
features and wavy hair ; the Doctors evidently intended to 
represent respectively a Pharisee and a Sadducee. 

End wall : 599. School of the same. Christ washing 
Peter's feet, a good transitional picture. 

*6oo. Boccaccio Boccaccino. Madonna and Saints ; his 
masterpiece. A little to the L., Our Lady holds the Child 
on her lap ; further L., St. Catharine, (a most graceful figure, 
beautifully robed,) holds out her hand to receive the mystic 
ring from the hands of the infant Christ whose bride she is. 
On the R., St. Rose, holding the palm of her martyrdom. 
These two female figures are exquisitely and touchingly 
rendered. To the extreme R., St. Peter with his keys, and 
St. John Baptist with his cross of reeds. The background 
is formed by a charming mountain landscape, with a lake 
and city. Observe in this delicious idyllic work how the 
assemblage of saints attendant on the Madonna has ceased 
to be symmetrical, and lost all memory of the early arrange- 
ment in rows ; the figures are here thrown into that sort 
of concerted composition which is known as a " Santa 
Conversazione." Compare with 592, Cima's Raphael and 
Tobias, and earlier examples. Linger long on this tender 
picture. 

Over the door : 601. Paolo Zoppo. St. James, with his 
staff as pilgrim. 

603. Cima da Conegliano. Half-length Madonna and 
Child, with St. John and St. Paul \ the latter may always 
be known by his bald head, pointed beard, and sword. Be- 
hind the Madonna, a curtain, on either side of which peeps 
out a landscape. This type of half-length Madonna, with 
curtain, parapet, and open background, is highly character- 
istic of the Venetian school of the Bellini period. Our Lady's 
features are redolent of the Venetian ideal : they may be 



VI.] THE ACADEMY I35 

traced afterwards in Titian and his followers. This is an 
admirable picture, beautifully rendered. 

R. wall: 605. Boccaccio Boccaccino. Madonna, between 
St. Simeon and St. Jerome. Beneath it, 

604. Cima. Deposition from the Cross. The dead 
Saviour is supported by Joseph of Arimathea ; on the other 
side are Our Lady as the Mater Dolorosa, and St. John ; 
at the ends, another Mary and Mary Magdalen. 

606 and 608. Antonio Vivarini. A fine early Annun- 
ciation in two panels, badly repainted. As usual, the angel 
L. and Our Lady R. The action almost always takes place 
in a loggia. Our Lady's face is already characteristically 
Venetian. 

607. Alvise Vivarini^ the last of his school. Our Lady 
enthroned, with Franciscan saints ; altar-piece painted for 
the Franciscan church of San Francesco at Treviso. In 
the centre. Our Lady sits enthroned on a lofty pedestal ; her 
features are somewhat insipid. In the foreground stand the 
four great Franciscan saints, from L. to R,, as follows : — 
St. Louis of Toulouse, St. Antony of Padua, St. Francis, 
St. Bernardino of Siena. The pinched, ascetic features of 
the last-named are characteristic of his conventional type. 
Behind these four Franciscans, stand the parents of Our 
Lady, St. Joachim, holding the dove of his offering, and St. 
Anna. The arches at the back and the long line of the 
saints convey faint reminiscences of the earlier formal ar- 
rangement in niches. This is considered Alvise's master- 
piece ; it well illustrates the harm done to such pictures 
by seeing them in a gallery, divorced from their primitive 
ecclesiastical surroundings, in which they were full of sym- 
bolical meaning. On the whole, the keynote here is as- 
ceticism. 

**6iO. Giovanni Bellini. Altar-piece, with Our Lady and 
two saints. This is one of Bellini's finest pictures ; it is 
a typical Venetian half-length Madonna, with curtain and 
parapet. Our Lady's face may be reckoned among the 
loveliest that Bellini ever painted ; the Child is charming 
in his infantine grace. To the L. stands St. Paul with his 



136 THE ACADEMY [vi. 

sword, its hilt and scabbard exquisitely enamelled : to the 
R., St. George, in a splendid helmet and glancing armour, 
grasping his lance or pennant with the red cross. These 
two faces are obviously portraits, probably of the donors, 
represented under the guise of their patron saints, for which 
the features of St. Paul, a characteristic Venetian senator 
of his period, are excellently adapted. St. George is less 
happy ; he looks more like a staid lawyer or statesman, 
than the romantic and adventurous knight of the legend. 
Admirably drawn, patiently wrought, gloriously coloured. 

■^611. Cinia. The IncreduUty of St. Thomas. An altar- 
piece painted for the Sawla of the Masons in Venice, St. 
Thomas be ng the recognised patron of the building trades. 
The action takes place in an arcade, from which is seen 
a distant view of Cima's favourite mountains. To the R. 
stands a sainted episcopal figure, usually explained as St. 
Magnus, the holy bishop of Altinum, but more probably St. 
Nicholas, the patron saint of merchants and the middle 
classes. (Compare the figure with the undoubted St. 
Nicholas holding the three balls, in the opposite altar- 
piece by the same artist.) Fine bold outlines ; vivid and 
pure colour ; great and grave religious sincerity. This is 
considered to be Cima's masterpiece. A picture by him 
very like it, but without the St. Nicholas, is in the National 
Gallery in London. 

612. Giovanni Bellini. Madonna with the red cherubs, 
a characteristic and silvery early specimen. Beneath it, 

613. Giovanjii Bellini. Half-length Madonna and saints. 
To the L., St. Catharine ; to the R., St. Mary Magdalen. 
The figures are lighted from below, being intended for a 
lofty altar-piece. 

614. Bartolommeo Vivarini. A didactic picture for the 
Magistrato di Cattaver. In the centre, Christ enthroned, 
bearing a book inscribed with the command to do justice 
and judge truly the sons of men ; to the L., St. Augustine ; 
to the R., St. Francis, probably in compliment to the magis- 
trates of the moment, whose namesakes these may most 
probably have been. In the background a Renaissance 



VI.] THE ACADEMY 137 

loggia, with festooned garlands, and the arms of the two 
donors. Saints and escutcheons combined would tell the 
names of the benefactors at once to a contemporary 
Venetian. 

615. Bartolommeo Vivarini. An early Madonna and 
saints, in the old " tabernacle " altar-piece style, from the 
suppressed church of Sant' Andrea della Certosa, (the Car- 
thusian monastery.) In the centre is a lovely enthroned 
Madonna with a sleeping Child — compare with the Cosimo 
Tura and the Bellini. To the L., St. Andrew, the patron of 
the church, and St. John the Baptist : to the R., St. Dominic 
and St. Peter. I think these figures have been misplaced 
in reframing, and that Peter and Andrew ought to occupy 
the next niches to Our Lady. Much repainted. 

Now, return to the far end of this room, and enter the 
little compartment beyond it. 

Room XVIII. 
Hall of the Vivarini. 

617. Unknozufi Paduan^ with characteristic Paduan archi- 
tectural detail, showing the classical influence of the school 
of Squarcione. In the centre, full-length Madonna, en- 
throned, with clothed Infant, surrounded by little angels 
singing and playing musical instruments in the manner 
common at Venice and Padua. (Note henceforth these 
pretty accessories.) To the L., St. Lawrence with his grid- 
iron, St. Jerome with his church and lion : to the R., St. 
George ij) or Liberale (.?), and St. Stephen with the stones 
of his martyrdom. A good, hard, characteristic Paduan 
picture. 

618 and 619. Alvise Vivarini. St. John the Baptist and 
St. Matthew. 

The end wall is occupied by several fragments of altar- 
pieces, (621,) with formal figures, of the school of the 
Vivarini, not very interesting. The order, from L. to R., is : 
St. Francis with the stigmata, Our Lady and Child, St. 
George (.^), St. Jerome with the church, a Nativity, (with the 



13^ THE ACADEMY [vi. 

Annunciation to the shepherds,) an unknown bishop — 
possibly St. Ambrose, St. John the Baptist, St. Sebastian, 
St. Antony the Abbot, with his bell and crutch, St. Law- 
rence, standing on his gridiron, and St. Antony of Padua, 
in Franciscan robes, with the lily. 

623. Cima. St. Christopher wading through the river 
with the infant Christ. Notice how he staggers beneath the 
supernatural weight of the divine burden. 

624. Alvise Vivarini. Madonna, at a prie-dieu ; one 
panel of an Annunciation, the other half of v;hich is missing. 

Return through Room XVII., descend the stairs, cross 
the corridor, and ascend the steps of the compartment 
opposite. 

Room XVI. 
Hall off St. Ursula. 

This room (part of the old church of the Carita) contains 
a series of paintings from the life of St. Ursula, all by 
Vittore Carpaccio, probably a pupil of the Bellini, who 
painted between 1490 and 1522. Carpaccio is the best re- 
presentative of the sportive and decorative character of the 
Venetian school at the beginning of the i6th century, and 
the graceful works collected here are his masterpieces. He 
is supreme as a story-teller. Before examining these ex- 
amples of his art in detail, sit down on one of the little red 
stools and read the following short account of their subject. 

\Sto Ursula was a British (or Bretonne) princess, brought 
up as a Christian by her pious parents. She was sought in 
marriage by a pagan prince, Conon, said in the legend to be 
the son of a king of England. The English king, called 
Agrippinus, sent ambassadors to Maurus, king of Britain (or 
Brittany) asking the hand of his daughter Ursula for his 
heir. But Ursula made three conditions : first, that she 
should be given as companions ten noble virgins, and that 
she herself and each of the virgins should be accompanied 
by a thousand maiden attendants ; second, that they should 
all together visit the shrines of the saints ; and third, that 
the prince Conon and his court should receive baptism. 



VI.] THE ACADEMY 139 

These conditions were complied with ; the king of England 
collected 11,000 virgins ; and Ursula, with her companions, 
sailed for Cologne, where she arrived miraculously without 
the assistance of sailors. Here, she had a vision of an 
angel bidding her to repair to Rome, the threshold of the 
apostles. From Cologne, the pilgrims proceeded up the 
Rhine by boat, till they arrived at Basle, where they dis- 
embarked and continued their journey on foot over the Alps 
to Italy. At length they reached the Tiber, and approached 
the walls of Rome. There, the Pope, St. Cyriacus, (or 
Cyprianus,) went forth with all his clergy in procession to 
meet them. He gave them his blessing ; and lest the 
maidens should come to harm in so wicked a city, he had 
tents pitched for them outside the walls on the side towards 
Tivoli. Meanwhile, prince Conon had also come on pil- 
grimage by a different route, and arrived at Rome on the 
same day as his betrothed. He knelt with Ursula at the 
feet of the Pope, and, being baptized, received in exchange 
the name of Ethereus. 

After a certain time spent in Rome, the holy maidens 
bethought them to return home again. Thereupon, Pope 
Cyriacus decided to accompany them, together with his 
cardinals, archbishops, bishops, patriarchs, and many others 
of his prelates. They crossed the Alps, embarked again at 
Basle, and made their way northward as far as Cologne. 
Now it happened that the army of the Huns was at that 
time besieging the Roman colony ; and the pagans fell upon 
the 11,000 virgins, with the Pope and their other saintly 
companions. Prince Ethereus was one of the first to die ; 
then Cyriacus, the bishops, and the cardinals perished. 
Last of all, the pagans turned upon the virgins, all of whom 
they slew, save only St. Ursula. Her they carried before 
their king, who, beholding her beauty, would fain have 
wedded her. But Ursula sternly refused the offer of this 
son of Satan ; whereupon the king, seizing his bow, trans- 
fixed her breast with three arrows. Hence her symbol in 
art is an arrow. 

St. Ursula is the patroness of maidens, and especially of 



140 THE ACADEMY [vi. 

school girls. There existed at Venice a benevolent institu- 
tion, under her patronage, for the support and education of 
orphan girls, the Sctiola di Sant' Ursula, (near San 
Giovanni e Paolo.) For this Scuola, Carpaccio painted the 
present series of scenes from the life of the patron saint, 
between 1490 and 1495. They are now well reunited in a 
room somewhat resembling their original abode. After 
seeing them, it is well to visit San Giorgio degli Schiavoni, 
where you will find a similar series, also by Carpaccio, from 
the lives of St. George and St. Tryphonius, still arranged in 
their first setting. These pictures, with those at San Rocco, 
will help you to piece out your idea of the splendid character 
of the old Venetian Scuole or charitable guilds. The visitor 
who has seen Bruges will also compare them mentally (or 
still better by means of photographs) with the Memlings of 
St. John's Hospital] 

This room and the two which follow it have been built in 
the upper floor of the suppressed church of the Caritk. The 
St. Ursula series begins to the L. of the door as you enter ; 
unfortunately, not all the pictures have been placed, it seems 
to me, in their proper chronological order in the story. 

572. The ambassadors of the pagan English king arrive 
at the court of the Christian king Maurus to ask for the 
hand of Ursula. To the extreme L. is the loggia or porch 
of the palace, with gentlemen in waiting ; below, a senator 
in a red robe ; in the background, a port like that of Venice. 
In the central portion of the picture, the chief ambassador, 
kneeling, presents his letter to King Maurus in council ; 
behind him, the other ambassadors make their obeisance ; 
in the background, a galley, and Venetian architecture of 
the early Renaissance. To the extreme R. is a subsequent 
episode : King Maurus conveys the message to his daughter, 
who is counting on her fingers the three conditions under 
which alone she will consent to accept the suit of Conon. 
Notice her neat little bed, and the picture of the Madonna 
on the wall. This daintily simple room has one side taken 
out, as at a theatre. The duenna below with the crutch 
obviously gave the hint for the old woman with the basket 



VI.] THE ACADEMY I4I 

of eggs in Titian's Presentation in the Temple. Observe 
the classical touch in the medallion of a Caesar on the pillar 
in front of her. 

573. The Ambassadors of the pagan English king leave 
the court of the Christian monarch. A preternaturally busy 
secretary writes the answer with the conditions to Conon. 
Observe the characteristic Venetian decorations of coloured 
marble, the niche over the door, and the architecture in the 
background. 

574 The Ambassadors render their report to the pagan 
king in his own city, the architecture of which, though still 
essentially Venetian, is meant to contrast as barbaric and 
antiquated with that of the Christian king's civilised capital. 
To the extreme R., king Agrippinus, seated, and looking 
fiercely pagan, receives the Ambassadors' report in a little 
octagonal summer-house with exquisite columns of coloured 
marble. Note the wall behind, and the gardens. Outside 
stands a very Venetian crowd, with a balustraded bridge 
like those on the Riva. The central part of the picture is 
occupied by Prince Conon and his knightly attendants ; the 
Prince stands in the exact middle with his hand on his 
heart. All the architectural details are worth close notice. 

575. The Departure of the two Lovers. On the L., 
Conon, with fair hair and a long red robe, takes leave of his 
parents ; in the background is the fantastic architecture of 
the pagan city, the turreted portion to the extreme L. being 
intended to produce a specially barbaric effect. The hill- 
town in the L. background resembles the neighbourhoods of 
Vicenza and Brescia. To the extreme R., St. Ursula takes 
leave of her parents, this Christian leave-taking being care- 
fully contrasted with the pagan one of Conon. The robes 
of Ursula, her father, and her weeping mother, are all beau- 
tiful. In the background, the stately Christian city, an 
ideal early-Renaissance Venice. A little to the L. of this 
group, near the flagstaff, is a somewhat later episode : 
Conon and his bride, this time somewhat differently dressed, 
meet for embarcation. (Perhaps, however, this scene re- 
presents Conon landing in Brittany, and received by Ursula ; 



142 THE ACADEMY [VI. 

while to the R. they may both be taking leave of Maurus.) 
The shipping, and the other accessories, such as the pontoon 
and the magnificent carpets, deserve close inspection. 

Omit for the moment 576 in the centre. 

■^577. Ursula and Conon arrive together on the same day 
at Rome, where they are met in solemn procession by the 
Pope, accompanied by a magnificent retinue of ecclesiastics. 
All the robes here are exquisitely rendered. In the distance 
to the L., the train of 11,000 virgins winds slowly, in single 
file, (as in the Memlings at Bruges,) absorbed in meditation, 
across the Campagna, with the Alps in the distance. Near 
them are eleven standards for the 11,000, and one with a 
red cross for St. Ursula. Many of the principal maidens 
wear coronets. In the background rises the castle of St. 
Angelo. Do not overlook the portable baldacchino and all 
the other ecclesiastical accessories in this fine and fantastic 
ceremonial picture. 

^■^578 (which ought to have come much earlier in the 
arrangement, at least if the legend was faithfully followed.) 
St. Ursula's Dream, a very lovely picture. The saint lies 
peacefully sleeping in a neat little bed under a simple 
canopy ; to the extreme R., the angel enters. Every detail 
here is delicious, from the flower-pots and flowers in the 
window, to the clogs which the tidy little saint has put off 
by her- bedside, and the dainty crown which she has care- 
fully laid on the parapet at the foot of the bed. A virgin 
martyr, but an ideal housewife. 

579. Arrival of St. Ursula at Cologne. On the L., the 
maiden saint is seen in a portentous galley, very difficult to 
navigate, accompanied by the Pope and all his ecclesiastics. 
Behind, in another galley, some assorted specimens of the 
1 1,000. A messenger in a boat seems to inform the pilgrims 
(quite needlessly) of the state of the city. To the R. is 
the besieging army of the Huns, most of them in frankly 
anachronistic late 15th century armour. In the background, 
the King of the Huns, himself, mounted, directs the siege. 
Beyond him stretch the tents of his followers, and then the 
turreted walls of Cologne, manned by the defenders. It 



VI.] THE ACADEMY 1 43 

must however be admitted that this is all very make-believe 
warfare. Nobody seems to take it seriously. 

580. The Martyrdom of St. Ursula and the 11,000 virgins. 
In the centre, the King of the Huns, a most courtly and 
knightly gentleman for a pagan savage, bends his bow and 
directs an arrow straight at the heart of the kneeling St. 
Ursula. Behind her are Conon (.'') and one of the virgins. 
A little in the background, the good Pope receives an arrow- 
wound and a sword-thrust, and his tiara falls from his dying 
head. To the extreme L. takes place an indiscriminate 
massacre, in which violent action (a weak point with Car- 
paccio) is only tolerably represented ; one Cardinal in 
particular, with an arrow in his face, is frankly comic. The 
upper part of the picture is formed by hard trees and a 
landscape background. The courtiers of the King of the 
Huns are chiefly remarkable for the barbaric variety and 
eccentricity of their weapons, in designing which Carpaccio's 
fancy runs riot. To the extreme R. is the Burial of the 
Saint, who is borne on a bier by ecclesiastics into a church, 
attended by sympathisers who seem to be portraits of 
Venetian gentlemen. The kneeling figure at the base is 
doubtless one of the donors. This is the poorest and least 
worthy work of the whole series. Carpaccio here attempts 
a task beyond his powers. 

Now, return to 576, opposite, which is really the last of 
the series. It represents the Glorification or Apotheosis of 
St. Ursula. In the centre stands the triumphant saint, 
elevated on a clustered column of palm-branches, symbolical 
of martyrdom, and ringed by red cherubs ; behind her is a 
glory ; around her, a mandorla-shaped group of little winged 
angels ; above, the Eternal Father, much foreshortened, 
stretches His welcoming arms to receive her into bliss im- 
mortal. Below are the companions of her martyrdom and 
her glory, the 11,000 virgins, two of them holding banners, 
together with the sainted Pope and the ecclesiastics who 
accompanied him. I fail, unfortunately, to discriminate 
Conon. The three portrait-like faces on the L. I take to be 
those of the donors. 



144 ^^^ ACADEMY \yi. 

Room XV. 
Hall of the Holy Cross. 

[The Scuola dl San Giovanni Evangeiista at Venice, 
(a local religious guild, a little behind the Frari,) possessed 
as its chief treasure a fragment of the True Cross. This 
most precious object was carried in procession through the 
streets on certain festa days, and became the centre of an 
important cult in early Renaissance Venice. About 1490, 
the Fraternity commissioned Gentile Bellini and his pupils 
to execute for their Hall a series of pictures on canvas, to 
be hung on the walls like tapestry. They were to represent 
the miracles wrought by this sacred relic, as well as certain 
other episodes in its local history. The conditions under 
which the pictures were painted thus explain many peculi- 
arities in their mode of treatment ; they were meant to be 
seen, as they now are, round the walls of a room by them- 
selves, and were intended rather as decorative backgrounds 
than as pictures in the ordinary sense. Formerly, the 
various members of the series were distributed through this 
Gallery in different rooms, surrounded by other works with 
figures of larger size, which made them look a trifle grotesque 
and finnicking. Their wise reunion in this octagon, built 
specially to accommodate them, with excellent taste, enables 
the spectator to judge their original effect much more truly. 

Carefully distinguish Qentile Bellini, the painter of 
historical scenes, from his brother Giovanni, the devotional 
painter of saints and Madonnas, whose work we have before 
examined. Gentile loved such small figures on rather 
crowded canvases. He struck the keynote of the Hall ; his 
pupils followed him. All these pictures should be carefully 
studied, because, apart from their intrinsic value as works 
of art, and as specimens of the best Venetian technique 
before the age of Titian, they preserve for us so many 
features of old Venice which have now disappeared, and 
also give us such charming glimpses of the domestic and 
public life of the 15th century. In particular, one of them 
is our best authority for the appearance of St. Mark's 



VI.] THE ACADEMY 1 45 

before its mosaics were altered. They are thus more than 
pictures ; they are historical documents.] 



Begin near the far end of the room. 

561. Lazzaro Sebastiani (or Bastiani.) Filippo Mazeri 
(or Massari), a crusader returning from the Holy Land, in 
1370, offers to the Scuola di San Giovanni a relic of the 
True Cross, which he has brought home to Venice with 
him. The scene represents the facade and open door of 
the old church of San Giovanni. The cross is presented on 
the altar. Bastiani conceives and represents it all in the 
costume and spirit of 1495 or thereabouts. To the L., the 
Fraternity. Foreground at either end, portraits of mem- 
bers. 

562. Giovanni Mansueti. Miraculous healing of a blind 
girl. The daughter of Niccolo Benvenudo da San Polo had 
no pupils to her eyes. She was cured by the touch of a 
blessed candle which had burned near the Relic. The 
scene takes place in the hall of an old Venetian palace : 
one wall removed, after the old fashion, as in a theatre. 
Note the magnificent ceiling, and the Renaissance archi- 
tecture. Also, staircase, canal, and gondola. 

563. Gentile Bellini-, spoiled by restoration. Cure of 
Pietro di Ludovico from a fever. He was a member of the 
Fraternity, and was healed, like the last, by the touch of a 
candle which had been in contact with the Relic. The 
scene is the chapel of the Fraternity. Pietro kneels at the 
altar. In the foreground are brethren in black and scarlet. 
Note the splendid architecture and pavement. 

564. Mansueti. A miracle of the Relic. One of the 
Brothers, who disbelieved in such miracles during his life, 
lies dead in the church of San Lio (to the R.) The Relic 
(R. foreground) is being carried in procession to his funeral, 
in 1474. At the old wooden Ponte di San Lio, it miracu- 
lously refuses to move further, and no force can compel it. 
Animated picture of Venice at its period. Mansueti himself 
stands near the bridge on the left, holding a paper which 
bears in Latin his name, and a profession of faith in the 

G. V. K 



146 THE ACADEMY [vi. 

truth of the miracle. Note the short gondolas : also, the 
architecture of the background, with spectators looking out 
of windows. 

565. Benedetto Diana ; entirely spoiled by bad restoration. 
Another miracle. A child which has fallen from a staircase 
is healed by the Relic. 

566. Carpaccio. Cure of a Demoniac. The time is 
dawn ; the houses above are in light, the water below still 
dark. The scene is on the Grand Canal, near the old 
wooden Ponte di Rialto. (Note its character.) Above, 
on the left, the Patriarch of Grado appears on the balcony 
of his Palace, and holds out the Relic, which cures the 
possessed (in brown.) Around gather various ecclesiastics 
to aid in the ceremony, with golden candlesticks. The 
gondolas below have gaily-painted canopies, and the gon- 
doliers are in bright costumes ; the sumptuary law com- 
pelling them to be uniformly black was not yet passed. No 
steel prows. A vivid picture of old Venice. 

■**567. Gentile Bellini. Procession of the True Cross in 
the Piazza. While the Relic was being carried in state by 
the Fraternity on \\\€\x festa^ (St. John the Evangehst's day,) 
Jacopo de Salis, a merchant of Brescia, heard that his son 
had fallen and hurt his head. He prayed fervently to the 
Relic, and his son was cured. Admirable view of the 
Piazza in 1496. As yet, (L.,) no clock tower. Examine 
closely the old mosaics on the facade of St. Mark's, now 
in many cases replaced by modern monstrosities. Their 
subjects are as at present, but note how much better these 
earlier and simpler works harmonise with the Byzantine 
character of the architecture. Study them closely : observe 
the Pharos as symbolising Alexandria. Houses then ad- 
joined the Campanile. Also, observe the gilt gateway at 
the corner by the Doge's Palace. Great movement in the 
procession, carrying the gilt reliquary. The brothers wear 
their white surplices. Study this picture long and carefully. 
It is our best evidence for the state of St. Mark's and the 
Piazza at the end of the 15th century. Item, it is a glorious 
piece of colour. 



vl] the academy 147 

568. Gentile Bellini. A procession to the church of San 
Lorenzo on that saint's festa. In crossing a bridge, the 
reliquary fell into the canal. Several persons tried to rescue 
it ; but only Andrea Vendramin, Grand Guardian of the 
Brotherhood, (afterwards Doge,) could see it by a miracle. 
All round, Bellini has painted the chief personages of his 
time, kneeling symbolically, as spectators and approvers of 
the miracle. In the right foreground are the donors of the 
picture, in the black or scarlet uniform of the Brotherhood. 
To the left, a crowd of Venetian ladies, headed by Catherine 
Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus, crowned, in dark green. A fine 
picture. 

[Study all these works with care, and, after seeing them, 
stroll round one afternoon to the Scuola itself, in order 
better to realize their meaning. By gondola, the Scuola is 
reached from the end of the canal which leads to the Frari ; 
by land, you walk to it best via the Rialto, Sant' Aponal, 
San Polo, and the Rio Terra S. Stin. The building is 
not in itself very interesting, but it has a nice bit of 14th 
century work, and a little piece of Lombardi portico ; and 
it helps you to restore the mental picture. Described p. 239.] 

In the apse beyond this room (apse of the old church of 
the Carita) are three pictures, also of the school of Gentile 
Bellini. Two of them come from the Scuola di San Marco^ 
a beautiful building near San Giovanni e Paolo, now the 
Civil Hospital. These two are, 

569. Mafistieti. St. Mark healing Anianus, who, being a 
cobbler, had hurt himself with an awl. St. Mark having 
come to Venice from Alexandria, Venetian painters gener- 
ally conceive him as surrounded by orientals in turbans. 

571. Mansueti. St. Mark preaching at Alexandria. Ob- 
serve elsewhere other pictures from this Scuola, which we 
shall visit later. 

The third, 570, by Gentile Bellitii^ (temporarily removed 
to the Hall of the Holy Cross,) comes from the Madonna 
dell' Orto. It represents San Lorenzo Giustiniani, first 
Patriarch of Venice, 145 1. (Till that date, Venice was 
subject to the Patriarch of Grado, but had her own suffragan 



148 THE ACADEMY [vi. 

Bishop at San Pietro di Castello : [see later.] The Patri- 
archate of Grado and Bishopric of Venice were then merged 
in the Patriarchate of Venice.) The saint is in profile, 
giving the benediction. On either side, a canon ; behind, 
two angels, holding his crosier and mitre. 

Now, return through the first hall you visited, (Room I.,) 
and enter the apartment at the far end of it 

Room II. 
Hall of the Assumption. 

This hall contains what are considered by the authorities 
to be the chief masterpieces of the collection, arranged 
without reference to chronological order. It therefore com- 
prises several works of various ages. 

Before entering the room, sit on the last seat in Room I., 
facing *^ Titian! s Assumption, No. 40, (within,) the effect of 
which is better seen from various parts of this room than from 
the further hall which actually contains it. This great picture 
is the masterpiece of the mighty Venetian artist of the High 
Renaissance ; it was painted as an altar-piece for the High 
Altar of the Franciscan Church of the Frari, whose official 
title is " St. Mary in Glory," (Santa Maria Gloriosa ;) and 
therefore it appropriately represents the Assumption of the 
Virgin. The scheme of colour is so arranged that the 
spectator's eye is irresistibly drawn towards the ecstatic 
figure of the ascending Madonna in the centre. She mounts 
as if of herself, impelled by inner impulse, but on clouds ot 
glory borne by childish angels, the light on whose forms is 
admirably concentrated. But the spectator sees chiefly the 
rapt shape of Our Lady herself and the brilliant golden haze 
behind her. She holds out her arms to the Lord in heaven. 
Above, the Almighty Father descends to receive her, float- 
ing in a vague halo of luminous cherubim. The lower and 
darker portion of the picture, in relatively earthly gloom, 
has the figures of the Apostles, in somewhat theatrical atti- 
tudes of surprise and agitation, looking up with awe towards 
the ascending Madonna. This lower half is best seen from 
much nearer : indeed, you must view the work from several 



VI.] THE ACADEMY I49 

positions in order fully to understand it. The youthful 
Apostle in red, on the R., with outstretched hands, is 
obviously a last reminiscence of the figure of St. Thomas 
receiving the Holy Girdle, with which visitors to Florence 
and Prato will be already familiar. This great picture, 
usually considered the finest triumph of the collection, marks 
the high water-mark in composition and colour of the Vene- 
tian Renaissance. It has suffered much from over-cleaning 
and over-painting by " restorers." Wonderful in science 
and technique, it strikes one still as unreal and exag- 
gerated. 

Enter the room. L. of the door, 

■^36. Cima. Altar-piece for the church of this very 
Scuola, (the same whose upper portion is now occupied by 
the St. Ursula series and the Holy Cross pictures.) In the 
centre sits Our Lady, enthroned, under a high-arched Re- 
naissance canopy, with a group of cherubs ; at her feet are 
the graceful little angels playing musical instruments so 
frequent in Venetian pictures. (Note how, as time goes 
on, the angels, once male and adults, grow gradually more 
feminine and more infantile.) To the L. are St. Nicholas, 
with his three golden balls, and the two protector saints of 
the Venetian territory — St. George, in armour, and St. 
Catharine, bearing the palm of her martyrdom. To the R. 
are St. Antony the Abbot, the youthful figure of St. 
Sebastian, wounded with arrows, and St. Lucy, bearing the 
palm of her martyrdom. In the distance rises one of Cima's 
favourite mountain backgrounds. Compare the early sim- 
plicity and grace of this beautiful and delicate work with 
the theatrical arrangement of 

37. Paolo Veronese. Madonna and Saints, an altar-piece 
for the Franciscan church of San Giobbe. Here, Our Lady 
sits in an affected attitude on an elevated throne, backed 
by a gold brocade or mosaic, (texture ill represented.) By 
her side is St. Paul with the sword ; beneath are St. Jerome, 
in cardinal's dress, and St. Francis with the stigmata ; 
behind him appears St. Justina of Padua. The infant St. 
John the Baptist stands on a pedestal at Our Lady's feet. 



150 THE ACADEMY [vi. 

Splendid as a piece of colouring, and considered one of 
Paolo's masterpieces, this gorgeous work is yet a typical 
example of the later faults of the Santa Conversazione. The 
personages have no rational connection with one another, 
and the attempt to combine them into a speaking scene 
results only in strained affectation. 

■^^38. Giovanni Bellini^ perhaps his masterpiece. Mag- 
nificent altar-piece for the plague-church of San Giobbe. 
(If you have not yet visited it, refer to the account under 
the Four Great Plague-Churches.) In the centre sits Out 
Lady, enthroned, one of the most beautiful Madonnas ever 
painted by Bellini. Her hand is lifted as if in pity ; the 
Child in her arms raises its eyes as though supplicating the 
Father on behalf of the plague-stricken. On the steps sit 
three of Bellini's sweetest "^musical angels in exquisitely 
varied attitudes. The two most prominent saints are the 
two great plague-saints of the church for which the picture 
was painted, both almost nude ; to the L., St. Job, with his 
hands folded in prayer, and his loins girt with an exquisitely- 
painted shot silk scarf ; to the R., St. Sebastian, his hands 
bound behind his back, and pierced with the arrows of the 
pestilence : the painting of the nude and the anatomy in 
this figure are admirable — the left arm stands out boldly 
from the canvas. To the extreme L. and R., are two Fran- 
ciscan saints, as becomes the Franciscan church of San 
Giobbe ; L., St. Francis ; R., St. Louis of Toulouse as bishop ; 
behind St. Job is St. John the Baptist, behind St. Sebastian 
is a monk, whom I take (doubtfully) to be St. Thomas 
Aquinas. Everything in this beautiful picture^, should be 
noticed, from the exquisite mosaic niche, like a chapel of 
St. Mark's, above, to the old-fashioned musical instruments 
of the angels below. Do not neglect the Renaissance de- 
coration, and the exquisite brocaded bodice worn by Our 
Lady. The feeling of the whole is tender and pitiful. 

39. Marco Basaiti. The Calling of the Sons of Zebedee, 
a good dry picture, hardly worthy of a place in this room of 
masterpieces. Its chief interest lies in its rather gloomy 
landscape. 



VI.] THE ACADEMY 151 

41. Tintoretto. The Death of Abel. One of its painter's 
murky masterpieces, lighted by a lightning flash. Im- 
mensely admired by those who love Tintoretto. Vigorous 
in action ; sombre in colour. 

*/^2. Tintoretto. A Miracle of St. Mark, another pic- 
ture painted for the Scuola di San Marco, which we shall 
afterwards visit. A pagan gentleman of Provence had a 
Christian slave, who persisted in worshipping at the shrine 
of St. Mark, and was therefore tortured for his faith, and 
ordered to be executed. St. Mark in a glory descended to 
dispel his persecutors. The centre of the picture, below, is 
occupied by the foreshortened figure of the tortured slave, 
unharmed : around stand pagans, (always thought of at 
Venice as Turks or Saracens,) one of whom shows the 
shattered hammer of torture to the master on an elevated 
seat to the R. Above is the boldly foreshortened figure of 
the descending saint, a powerful muscular frame, shot out 
of a cannon as it were, so swift is its descent. The figures 
to the L. are painted in strange and tortuous attitudes, 
simply for the sake of overcoming difficulties of drawing. 
Below, on the L., is probably the donor. This is a fine 
piece of rich colour, and a masterpiece of technical know- 
ledge, but it betrays itself too much as an effort after 
artistic execution. It is probably the most generally ad- 
mired of Tintoretto's paintings. (Other pictures of this 
series in the Royal Palace.) 

43. Tintoretto. Adam and Eve. A fine study of the 
nude, in low tones of colour, scarcely more than chiaroscuro. 

*44. Carpaccio. Presentation in the Temple. A beautiful 
scene, which shows Carpaccio in a somewhat different char- 
acter from the designer of the St. Ursulas, as a painter of set 
religious pictures. To the L., Our Lady, accompanied by two 
attendants, (one of them bearing the doves for the offering,) 
presents the Child to the adoring Simeon, who bows to the 
R. in an attitude of veneration, his robe being sustained by 
two dignified attendants. The summit of the picture is 
formed by one of the rich mosaic niches so common at this 
period, suggested by the side chapel of St. Mark's. At the 



152 THE ACADEMY [vi. 

foot are three angels with musical instruments, dainty- 
enough in their way, though suffering ill by comparison 
with the great Bellini, 38, v^hich obviously suggested them. 
(But many good judges, I see, prefer these to those.) The 
comparison of these four pictures (44, 36, 38, yj) is ex- 
tremely instructive. Do not overlook the marble decorations 
of the pedestal. Over the door, 

45. Paolo Veronese. Panel from a ceiling in the Doge's 
Palace. Venice on her throne ; Hercules by her side repre- 
sents her military strength ; Ceres offers her sheaves of corn, 
which appropriately typify the wealth of the mainland. A 
fine example of those fantastic chequers of which we shall 
see many on the decorated ceilings of the Ducal Palace. 

Pass up the steps into 

Room III. 

Hali of the various Italian Schools: 

The pictures in this room are not exclusively Venetian, 
and have as a rule little bearing on Venetian art ; I will 
therefore pass most of them over rapidly. L. of entrance 
door, 

48. Gentile da Fabrzano, (an Umbrian master who was 
called to Venice to assist in the decoration of the old Doge's 
Palace, before the great fire, and who left a permanent im- 
press upon the art of the city. The Vivarini derived their 
style in part from him.) Madonna and Child ; not a good 
specimen of its artist's work. 

51. School of Squarcione of Padua. Crucifixion, with 
Our Lady and St. John. A good specimen of the formal, 
classical Paduan spirit, of which Mantegna and (to a much 
less degree) Giovanni Bellini were outcomes. Note in this 
picture especially the germs of Mantegna. Its painter was 
one Bernardo Parentino. 

49. Little round Madonna, with the infant St. John the 
Baptist of Florence, of the school of Filippino Lippi. 

Cross the room ; view from the window of the old Court 
of the Caritk. 

53. Marco Zoppo, The Triumphal Arch of Doge Nicole 



VI.] THE ACADEMY I53 

Tron ; Renaissance design. Amorini above support the 
arms of the family : below, those of the three chamberlains. 
From the Doge's Palace. 

54. St. Caterina Vigri of Bologna, a sainted Dominican 
nun. Glory of St. Ursula, who holds her standard and the 
palm of her martyrdom, and is being crowned by two 
angels ; on either side two of her Virgins : at her feet a 
Dominican nun kneeling ; either the donor or, perhaps, the 
artist. Compare with Carpaccio. 

55. Unknown Florenti?ie. ]\Iadonna and Child, on a 
Florentine Renaissance throne, which may be instructively 
compared with those of the Venetians. On the L., St. Lucy 
with her lamp ; on the R., St. Peter Martyr with the hatchet 
of his martyrdom ; above, angels. Useful for comparison 
of the Florentine and Venetian types. 

56. Garofalo. Our Lady in clouds, with four saints : 
John the Baptist, Augustine, Peter, Paul ; landscape back- 
ground. Characteristically Ferrarese work. 

57. Bernardino da Siena. Madonna, Peter, Paul. 

On the opposite side is nothing worth notice, except a 
contorted, base- naturalistic Flaying of St. Bartholomew, by 
Spagnoletto. One of the worst outcomes of so-called natural- 
ism. 

The apartment beyond this, (Room IV., Hall of the Draw- 
ings,) contains a magnificent collection of sketches, in- 
cluding several by Leonardo da Vinci, and the misnamed 
" Sketch-Book of Raphael," with drawings by Pinturicchio 
and other masters of the Umbrian school, to describe which 
lies beyond the province of this Guide. 

Continuing along the main line of rooms, we reach next. 

Room V. 

Hall of the Scholars of Bellini. 

This room contains admirable works of the Early High 
Renaissance, all by scholars of Bellini or their contempo- 
raries. They should be closely studied as giving an admir- 
able idea of Venetian painting at the beginning of the i6th 



154 ^^-^ ACADEMY [VI. 

century, just before and during the prime of Titian. R. of 
the door as you enter, 

*io8. Marco Basaiti. Youthful dead Christ, attended 
by angels ; a rare treatment of this subject. 

L. of the door, 

71. Donato Veneziano. Pieta ; the dead Christ sup- 
ported by St. John and Our Lady. 

68. Marco Basaiti. Two panels from an altar-piece ; 
St. James with his staff, and St. Anthony Abbot with his 
Tau-shaped cross and bell. 

■^^69. Marco Basaiti. The Agony in the Garden ; his 
finest work, and a very noble and touching picture, painted 
as an altar-piece for the plague-church of San Giobbe. The 
picture divides itself into two portions \ the more distant re- 
presents the Saviour, praying in His agony on the moun- 
tain ; the angel with the cup is flying towards him. Below 
the rock on which he kneels are three sleeping Apostles, 
as is usual in pictures of this subject ; the background is 
formed by a rather lurid and appropriate dawn. This mystic 
portion of the picture is seen through the arch of a portico, 
from which hangs a lamp ; the foreground contains the 
attendant saints, as spectators of the mystery, — an incipient 
attempt to render the curious old arrangement, by which 
later persons interfered with the scene, a little less obtru- 
sively anachronistic. To the L. are the two Franciscan 
saints so frequent at San Giobbe, St. Francis and St. Louis 
of Toulouse ; to the R. are St. Dominic and St. Mark, A 
pathetic picture, full of fine devotional feeling. 

loi. Marco Bello. Chiefly remarkable as being one ot 
the earliest pictures at Venice, in which the little Florentine 
St. John is introduced with Our Lady and the Child. The 
fashion started in Florence, where it had a meaning, (St. 
John the Baptist being the patron saint of the city,) and 
afterwards spread elsewhere, where it had none, because it 
allowed the extension of a certain domestic interest always 
dear to the greater public. 

107. Marco Basaiti. St. Jerome in the Desert, as a Peni- 
tent, — as usual holding the stone with which he hammers 



vl] the academy 155 

his breast. The two great St. Jerome subjects are this and 
St. Jerome in his study as translator of the Vulgate. 

70. A7idrea Previtali. Madonna and Child, with St. 
John the Baptist and St. Catharine, the latter holding a 
fragment of the wheel of her martyrdom, which was broken 
by angels. Note that now the arrangement of the attendant 
saints has become quite unconventional. Through the 
window, sub-Alpine landscape. 

Left wall, 

72 and 73. Catena, Two Fathers of the Church, Augus- 
tine and Jerome. 

(No number.) Basaiti. St. George slaying the Dragon ; 
close by, the Princess fleeing. The white charger is emble- 
matic of purity ; still a little stiff in his joints. 

I pass over two or three good typical Venetian Madonnas, 
one by Mansueti, with the donor, 

76. Marco Marziale^ (a curious, hard, dry painter, who 
studied in the school of Bellini, but afterwards underwent 
the influence of Diirer, and oddly combines German with 
Venetian characteristics.) The Supper at Emmaus. The 
pilgrim to the R., and the host holding the hat behind him, 
are extremely German in type, and recall Lucas Cranach. 
But the German tone is ill assimilated. This is an excel- 
lent specimen of its odd artist's peculiar temperament. 

78. Barfolomeo Montagna ; (do not confuse him with 
Mantegna, a very different person. Montagna was a Vi- 
cenza painter, influenced by the Bellini, but with marked 
original characteristics — bold, brown, muscular. This is a 
good specimen of his style, though more pathetic than his 
wont.) A very typical and terrible plague-picture, from the 
plague-church of San Rocco at Vicenza. In the centre 
stands the wounded Christ, displaying almost painfully the 
marks of his crucifixion : to the L., St. Sebastian, shot 
through with the arrows of the plague ; to the R., St. 
Rocco, with one leg bared to show his plague-spot. This 
is perhaps the most obvious pestilence-picture to be found 
in Venice ; the air of poignant suffering, combined with 
patience and adoration, on the faces of the saints, strikes 



156 THE ACADEMY [vi. 

the keynote. The nude is well painted in warm flesh- 
tones. 

*79. Bissolo. The Confession of St. Catharine of Siena. 
The holy nun kneels meekly, in her Dominican robes, before 
the feet of the Saviour, who places on her head the crown of 
thorns, while he shows her at the same time the heavenly 
crown which he holds in reserve for her in the glorious 
future. Behind stands St. Peter with his keys, close to 
whom kneels a female saint, (I think, St. Catharine of Alex- 
andria, but perhaps the Magdalen.) To the R. stand St. 
Andrew (.?) and St. Paul ; to the L., the angel Raphael, with 
the child Tobias carrying the fish. As this last figure often 
indicates a votive offering for blindness, (see the Book of 
Tobit,) it is probable that this deeply religious picture, with 
its representation of patient suffering, was the gift of a blind 
woman donor, doubtless a Dominican nun. It comes from 
the Dominican Church of St. Peter Martyr at Murano. 

94. Bissolo. Half-length Madonna and Child, with four 
saints. Observe Our Lady's face, as characteristic of the 
later Venetian type. The figure of St. Job, to the R., shows 
it to be a plague-picture ; the other saints from L. to R. 
are : St. John the Baptist, St. Rose, and St. James the 
Greater. Over-restored. 

93. Bissolo. Presentation in the Temple. A good pic- 
ture, suggested by a Bellini now in England. Our Lady 
offers the Child to the aged Simeon, behind whom stands 
Joseph ; to the L. are St. Antony of Padua and a female 
saint, (possibly St. Justina,) offering the doves of the sacri- 
fice ; below kneels the donor. 

80. Montagna. Our Lady and Child, enthroned on a 
Paduan throne, with characteristic classical reliefs ; St. 
Sebastian, to the L., with his suffering face, shows it to be a 
plague-picture ; to the R., the common desert-saint, St. 
Jerome. This votive offering comes from the plague-church 
of San Rocco at Vicenza. 

81. Andrea Busati. A magistracy picture from the Doge's 
Palace. St. Mark, as patron of Venice, enthroned between 
St. Andrew and St. Francis (or Bernardino ?) probably the 



VI.] THE ACADEMY I57 

name-saints of the magistrates of the moment. It was usual 
for officers of the Repubhc thus to mark the period of their 
tenure of office by presenting their portraits, or some sym- 
bolical work of art, to their official residence. 

82. Benedetto Diana. A fine altar-piece from St. Luke's 
at Padua. Our Lady enthroned, with St. Jerome ; the 
painter's personal patron, St. Benedict (I somewhat doubt 
this identification); St. Justina, the patron saint of Padua, 
with the sword of her martyrdom ; and St. Mary Magda- 
len, with the vase of ointment. Observe the fantastic 
decorations and head-dresses ; we are getting beyond the 
purity of the early period. The colour is crude in parts : 
the tone is affected. 

83. Beftedetto Diana. Half-length Madonna, between St. 
Jerome and St. Francis. A magistracy picture. 

84. Benedetto Diana. Good Madonna, between St. John 
the Baptist and St. Jerome. Compare this mentally with 
the Bellinis and note the differences. 

86. Attributed to Benedetto Diana. Madonna enthroned ; 
the face unusually aged ; with the Infant Christ and St. 
John the Baptist ; below stand St. Louis of Toulouse and 
St. Anna, mother of the Virgin. A somewhat mannered 
picture. 

End wall, 

89. Carpaccio. The Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand 
Christians on Mount Ararat. This confused and mannered 
picture, painted twenty years later than the St. Ursula series, 
suffices to show that the Renaissance had done no good 
to Carpaccio's art ; he has learned now how to draw better, 
but he has lost all his early naivete and originality. The 
work was ordered by the Prior of the Monastery of Sant' 
Antonio di Castello, the monks of which had imprudently 
admitted a plague-stricken priest : the Prior vowed this 
picture to the 10,000 martyrs if his brethren escaped 
contagion. 

95. Attributed to Titian., and said to be his earliest work. 
The Visitation of Mary to Ehzabeth ; behind stand their 
respective husbands, Joseph and Zacharias, 



158 THE ACADEMY [vi. 

90. Carpaccio. The Meeting of Joachim and Anna at the 
Golden Gate, before the birth of the Virgin. At the sides 
are two royal saints, Louis IXth of France, and St. Ursula 
with her banner and the palm of her martydom. Some 
writers call the last St. Elizabeth of Hungary, but Elizabeth 
was not a martyr. 

91. Carpacczo. Ceremonial picture, from the church of 
St. Antonio di Castello, representing the old interior of the 
church, with a procession of pilgrims. 

97, Mansueti. Franciscan plague-picture, from the 
church of St. Francis at Treviso. In the centre, St. Sebas- 
tian, bound to a column, and pierced with the arrows of the 
pestilence ; extreme L., San Liberale, patron saint of the 
town and district of Treviso, in a magnificent mantle, bear- 
ing his banner ; to the extreme R., San Rocco, with his 
pilgrim's staff and bundle, raising his robe to show his 
plague-spot ; a little behind, St. Gregory and St. Francis. 
This is a good painting, and a very characteristic local 
plague-picture, full of meaning. The heads have fine indi- 
viduality. 

98. Donato Veneziano. Crucifixion, with very touching 
figures of Our Lady and St. John. St. Mary Magdalen 
embraces the foot of the cross. At the ends are two Fran- 
ciscan saints, St. Francis and St. Bernardino of Siena. 
From the old Franciscan church of San Niccolo dei 
Frari. 

100. Lazzaro Sebastiani. Nativity, with shed, manger, 
ox, and ass ; St. Eustace, St. James, St. Augustine (or 
Nicholas ?) and an Evangelist (Mark ?). 

103. Peter and Paul, Jerome and Ambrose, by Carlo 
Crwelli, whose dry, ornate Paduan manner is better studied 
in London or Milan. 

104. Lazzaro Sebastiani. Very enigmatical Franciscan 
picture, representing St. Francis (or Antony of Padua) 
seated in a tree : beneath, St. Bonaventura and another. I 
do not understand it. 

105. Carlo Crivelli. Four panels of a plague-picture : 
San Rocco showing his plague-spot, St. Sebastian, St. 



VI.] THE ACADEMY I59 

Emidius, patron of Ascoli, (where Crivelli lived,) and San 
Bernardino. 

I pass by in this room several other pictures of great 
merit. To the R., enter 

Room VI. 

Hall of Callot. 

Landscapes, etc., mainly Dutch, and requiring no expla- 
nation. 

Room VI. 

Hall of the Painters of Friuli. 

Friuli is a poor mountain district north of Venice ; it 
produced a group of peculiar followers of Bellini, noticeable 
for their dry formal drawing. I will pass rapidly through 
these pictures, not many of which are of the first order. 

159. Martino da Udine. Half-length Madonna and Child, 
with saints and donors, (Jerome, Daniel, Catherine, and 
Antony Abbot.) 

160. Girolamo da Santa Croce. St. Mark with Gospel 
and lion. 

164. Marcello Fogolino. Madonna and Child, with 
Franciscan saints ; from L. to R., Bonaventura, Clara, 
Francis, Antony of Padua, Bernardino, Louis of Toulouse. 

*i66. Rocco Marconi^ far the finest of the Friulans. 
Descent from the Cross, his masterpiece. The Magdalen 
to the R. is very beautiful ; the St. John is (contrary to 
usage) represented as old ; in the background, a Dominican 
woman saint (others say, St. Monica) and St. Benedict, or 
perhaps St. Dominic. (I think the former, as it comes 
from a Servite church). This is a touching work. Fine 
landscape background. Great breadth and exquisite clear 
colour. On either side of it, good Virtues by Girolamo da 
Udine. 

147 is a plague-picture, with the now familiar figures of 
San Rocco and St. Sebastian. 

148 and 150. A divided Annunciation. 

149. The Risen Christ, by Francesco da Santa Croce. 



l6o THE ACADEMY [vi. 

151. Martino da Udine. An Annunciation, showing the 
later mode of envisaging this conventional subject ; the 
angel's floating draperies are intended to indicate that he 
has travelled through space. 

I do not dwell upon the many other good examples of the 
somewhat dry Friulan manner in this room, not because 
they are not worthy of patient study, but because most of 
them are now sufficiently explained to the reader by their 
labels, with the aid of the hints already supplied him. 

Room VIII. 

Hall of the Flemings, 

contains several excellent Flemish pictures, worthy of study 
in themselves, but which I pass by as not specially con- 
nected with Venice. Some of them are lovely. 
Return to Room V., and mount the steps to 

Room IX. 
Hall of Paolo Veronese. 

This room contains several later works of the Venetian 
High Renaissance, mostly large and gorgeous canvases, 
which reflect the magnificence of 16th-century Venice. 
They take the public fancy, but are deficient in the higher 
artistic qualities of an earlier period, though usually show- 
ing consummate technique and splendid colour. 

The end wall to the R. is entirely occupied by the great 
'''Paolo Veronese of the Supper at the House of Simon the 
Pharisee : one of the most popular pictures in the collection. 
The scene is laid in a vast High-Renaissance Venetian 
loggia of three arches ; the background represents a glorious 
imaginary Palladian Venice. The sense of space is bound- 
less. The Christ in the centre, however, is (very character- 
istically) less conspicuous than the group of lordly guests 
and more especially the figure of the gallant nobleman, in 
rich green robes, in the L. foreground, giving orders to the 
attendants. The general tone is merely sumptuous. Many 
of the domestic and almost grotesque episodes among the 
accessories brought down upon the painter the strictures of 



VI.] THE ACADEMY l6l 

the Inquisition : he painted out some ; others still remain. 
This is entirely a regal and ceremonial, not in any sense a 
sacred, picture ; it was painted for the Refectory of the 
Dominican monastery of San Giovanni e Paolo, which 
oddly accepted it as a religious work. The subject is one 
of those v/hich, like the Last Supper and the Marriage at 
Cana in Galilee, were usually selected as appropriate for the 
decoration of refectories. Glowing colour ; superb archi- 
tecture ', faultless perspective ; dashing life — and no soul 
in it. 

Wall to the L., 

207. Paolo Veronese. Our Lady of the Rosary. This is 
a Dominican picture from the Dominican church of St. 
Peter Martyr at Murano. St. Dominic was the introducer 
of the Rosary ; he is therefore represented, attended with 
angels, distributing roses to the faithful, who are typified, on 
the R., by a kneeling Doge in his robe of state, accompanied 
by senators, chamberlains, and the ladies of his family : and 
on the L. foreground, by a kneeling Pope, with his triple 
tiara, an Emperor, and another group of ladies. This is a 
fine ceremonial picture of its sort, spoilt by restoration. 

Near by, skied, are four pictures by Paolo Veronese from 
the legend of St. Christina. Take them in the following 
order : 205, having broken her father's idols of gold and 
silver, to give them to the poor, she is carried out into the 
lake of Bolsena by his orders to be drowned : 206, having 
escaped this fate, she is imprisoned, and visited in prison 
by an angel ; 208, she refuses to worship the statue of 
Apollo : 209, she is scourged by two executioners at a 
column. But to Paolo, the legend is simply an excuse for 
painting a handsome woman in various telling attitudes. 
Strange to say, a church accepted them as sacred pictures. 

212. Paolo Veronese. The Battle of Lepanto, (1571.) 
Below is the naval battle itself, a confused melee : above, in 
clouds, suppliant Venice kneels before Our Lady, imploring 
her aid to secure the victory ; St. Mark, attended by his 
lion, introduces her and aids her suit ; to the L. are St. 
Peter the Apostle and St. Peter Martyr. This curious 

G. V. L 



l62 THE ACADEMY [vi. 

allegorical picture, so redolent of its age, comes from the 
church of St. Peter Martyr at Murano. 

*2io, above, Tintoretto, (skied.) The Madonna and the 
Camerlenghi. Here we have a characteristic Venetian 
mode of painting portraits. To the L. sits Our Lady with 
the Child, surrounded by three Venetian patrons, St. Mark, 
St. Theodore, and St. Sebastian. In front of her, in atti- 
tudes of adoration, bow or stand the three Chamberlains or 
Treasurers of the Republic ; behind them again are their 
servants, carrying bags of treasure. It was usual for officials 
of the Republic to have their portraits thus painted in the 
act of worshipping Our Lady or St. Mark, or some other 
religious personage. Note how this practice grows out of 
the earlier little figures of the kneeling donor. But now the 
portrait is the real subject of the picture, and the Madonna 
has sunk into a mere excuse for painting it. Nominally, 
this work is an Adoration of the Magi : earthly rulers often 
had themselves painted in this scene, as symbolising the 
subjection of kings to Christ : here, the pretence is very 
thin, and money-bags, emblems of the treasury, replace the 
golden cups for gold, myrrh, and frankincense, which are 
usual in more ancient treatments. 

*2I3. Tintoretto. Crucifixion; a noble picture, in which, 
however, all the saintly forms have assumed the voluptuous 
type of the later Venetian women. It was painted for the 
Confraternity of the Rosary at the Dominican church of San 
Giovanni e Paolo. Sombre sympathetic background. 

214. Moro. Curious picture, only noteworthy for its 
quaint identification of St. Mark with Venice. The Evan- 
gelist presides at the naval conscription : view of the Riva 
dei Schiavoni. 

217. Tintoretto. The Descent from the Cross, with Our 
Lady fainting. 

219. Tintoretto. Assumption of Our Lady, noticeable for 
its luminous atmosphere, and for the apparent lightness 
with which the Madonna is springing upward. At the base, 
the Apostles surround the empty sarcophagus. Compare 
with the great Titian. 



VI]. THE ACADEMY 163 

221. Imtoretto. Altar-piece of the church of St. Cosmo 
and Damian on the Giudecca. At the foot kneel the holy 
Doctors themselves, in their red robes, with their boxes of 
ointment and surgical instruments. In clouds above sits 
Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, clad with the sun, 
and planting her feet upon the crescent, with a singular 
background of the Plains of Heaven. To the L. stands St. 
Cecilia; to the R. St. Theodore, and a saint with a child, (I 
think, Antony of Padua.) Above, on the R., a flying 
angel. This is an example of the last stage in the theatrical 
grouping of what was once Our Lady with attendant saints 
in separate niches. 

225. Tintoretto. Portraits of three Venetian treasurers, 
with their secretaries, represented as adoring St. Justina of 
Padua. Here we see another good example of the way in 
which portraits finally got the better of the central sacred 
subject. In former times the donor asked for a St. Justina, 
with himself in the corner ; now he expects a portrait of 
himself, with St. Justina in the corner. The figure of St. 
Justina is very fine. These three Treasurers (1580) are 
Marco Giustinian, Alvise Soranzo, and Alvise Badoer : the 
name of the first probably suggested the particular saint to 
be used as a figure-head. The work was painted for the 
Palace of the Camerlenghi, near the Rialto. 

The end wall of exit is occupied by several admirable 
^portraits, chiefly by Tintoretto, of Venetian nobles of the 
late Renaissance. 

229. Bassano. Doge Antonio Memmo, in his cap and 
robe of office. A keen, eager man of business. Light, 
clear, and effective. Beneath it, 

230. Tintoretto. Marco Grimani, Procurator of St. Mark, 
(1570,) a fine, thoughtful, vigorous head, vigorously painted! 
Rugged and able. Attributed by some to Palma the 
younger. 

233. Tintoretto. Doge Alvise Mocenigo, (1570,) with his 
cap of office. Painted for the Procuratie. 

234. Tintoretto. Andrea Capello, Procurator of St. Mark ; 
a shrewd face ; from the Procuratie. Above these, 



l64 THE ACADEMY [vi. 

232. Tintoretto. The Woman taken in Adultery ; chiefly 
remarkable for a fine voluptuous Venetian female figure. 

■*237. Tintoretto. Splendid portrait of Battista Morosini. 

*245. Titian. Glorious portrait of Jacopo Soranzo. 
Documentary evidence ascribes it to Tintoretto. Among 
so many undoubted Tintorettos, from which this portrait 
greatly differs, it is difficult to admit the ascription. 

243. Tintoretto. A very striking picture of four unknown 
senators, adoring the Madonna and Child. From the 
Magistrato del Sale. 

241. Tintoretto. Another splendid portrait. 

The ensemble of portraits on this end wall, above and 
below, gives a magnificent impression of the vigorous and 
virile Venetian aristocracy of this great period. I do not 
dwell upon each picture individually, because they are rather 
subjects for personal inspection and admiration than for 
that sort of explanation which it is the business of this 
Guide to afford. But all of them deserve attentive study. 

The R. wall has works of Carletto Caliari, son and pupil 
of Paolo Veronese, and other artists of the same school, 
more or less incipiently decadent. 

248. Carletto Caliari. The Way to Calvary ; ladylike St. 
Veronica presents her handkerchief to the fallen Christ. A 
feeble echo. 

*252. Bassano (Leandro). The Resurrection of Lazarus \ 
a good picture in its way, but the buxom Mary Magdalen in 
the foreground looks much more decidedly like a sinner 
than a penitent ; she is simply a careless voluptuous 
Venetian woman. Nevertheless, in technique this is per- 
haps its master's best work. 

255. Paolo Veronese. Crucifixion. Very unpleasing. 
The main subject, so tremendous in import, is relegated to a 
small portion of the picture on the extreme L., and that in 
the background : even of this, the most conspicuous figures 
are those of the too earthly Magdalen at the foot of the 
cross, and the good centurion, St. Longinus, represented in 
the very act of conversion. The rest of this big and uncon- 
sciously irreverent canvas is mainly occupied by Roman 



VI.] THE ACADEMY 165 

soldiers and a distant view of a fanciful Jerusalem. The 
subject is obviously one for which Veronese was peculiarly 
unfitted by temperament and training. Yet a church hung 
it as an altar-piece. 

*26o, Paolo Veronese, The Annunciation ; a work which 
it is most instructive to compare v/ith earlier Venetian and 
Florentine examples. All the old formal elements of the 
scene are here retained ; the angel Gabriel still holds a lily, 
and is still (as always) to the L. of the picture ; Our Lady 
still kneels at a prie-dieu to the R. ; a loggia, now grown 
with Renaissance expansiveness into vastly gieater propor- 
tions, separates them as it ought to do : in the background 
is the usual " enclosed garden," though its architecture has 
become most stately and Palladian. In spite of these formal 
reminiscences, however, of the ancient treatment, the whole 
spirit of the scene is utterly changed. The flying angel 
enters with gracefully arranged draperies, intended to be 
indicative of rapid descent through the air : his face and 
figure have the ample voluptuousness of all* later Venetian 
painting. Our Lady's countenance is still sweet, if insipid, 
and recalls somewhat of Titian, and even (m cast of 
features) of Bellini ; but she is merely a dignified, aristo- 
cratic, well-fed, unthinking Venetian lady. This is an ex- 
cellent work of its kind, but certainly not a sacred picture. 
Architecture admirable ; colour fine ; drawing vigorous. 
From the Scuola of the Merchants. 

264. Paolo Veronese. Coronation of the Virgin by the 
first and second Persons of the Trinity, in a vast assemblage 
of miscellaneous saints, many of whom can be more or less 
recognised by their symbols, including the four Doctors of 
the Church, and the chief apostles and martyrs. The reason 
for depicting this immense assemblage is that the picture 
was painted for the suppressed church of All Saints (Ognis- 
santi :) it is an excellent work in its way, but again proves 
Veronese's total unfitness for sacred subjects, especially in 
the person of the blue-robed Madonna, who is simply a 
handsome and frivolous young Dogaressa. The saints 
below are painted for their full fleshly faces, their rotund 



l66 THE ACADEMY [vi. 

anatomy, and their splendid draperies, not in order to excite 
devotional feeling. A fine specimen of Veronese's colouring. 
Eastlake well compares it to the transformation scene of a 
pantomine. 

265. Assumption, by Veronese. Here, once more, the 
formal elements of the Apostles looking into the empty 
sarcophagus are retained, but their attitudes are varied with 
studied care. Again a fine piece of colour. 

On all the walls of this room are many other pictures de- 
serving, after their kind, of serious study. 

Room X. 
Hall of Bonlfazio. 

This room is filled with the masterpieces of the latest 
age of art in Venice before the decadence. It contains 
an immense number of works of great artistic value, (now 
less admired than of old — and justly,) to relatively few of 
which, however, I can call attention, and that more from the 
point of view of explanation than of criticism. Do not 
think you must pass by pictures simply because I have not 
noticed them. 

Modern research has decided that there were three 
painters of the name of Bonifazio, all related, whose works 
have only of late been critically distinguished. I mark them 
by the figures I., II., and III, But great uncertainty sur- 
rounds their productions, and no two critics agree which 
painted which among them. 

End wall, L. of door as you enter, 

269. Bonifazio II. (others say, III.). A beautiful Sacra 
Conversazione. In the centre, Our Lady and Child, with 
the little St. John the Baptist, now a common element in 
such pictures (borrowed from Florence). On the L., St. 
Joseph and St. Jerome ; on the R., two women saints (Mary 
Magdalen and Catharine ?— the first seems to hold a box of 
ointment, the second a book, which may indicate the learned 
princess who was patroness of learning.) Fine rich colour. 
Above this. 



VI.] THE ACADEMY 1 67 

274, A good Ecce Homo, by Palma the younger. Still 
higher, 

317. Rocco Marcojii, Christ enthroned between St. Peter 
and St. John the Baptist. 

•^270. Tintoretto. A Madonna della Misericordia, in- 
teresting as showing the way in which this early and 
difficult subject is accommodated to the ideas of more 
modern art. The red and blue of Our Lady's robes are 
very characteristic of Tintoretto's colouring. The votaries 
evidently belong to some religious confraternity. 

272. Torbido. Fine portrait of an old woman, probably 
intended as a Sybil. 

275. Copy after Bonifazio II. ; another Sacra Conver- 
sazione, closely resembling the first, and showing the 
almost mechanical ease and grace of composition which 
this class of subject had now attained. L., St. James and 
St. Jerome ; R., St. Catharine with her wheel ; observe in 
both the landscape background. 

L. wall, 278. Bonifazio II. (more probably I.). Christ 
and the Woman taken in Adultery ; a splendid specimen 
of this artist. 

■^^281. Bonifazio II. (according to others I.). Adoration 
of the Magi ; an excellent picture and splendid piece of 
colour ; interesting also as showing the later treatment of 
these old conventional subjects. The scene is the usual 
ruined temple ; in the background, the shed and stable ; 
over Our Lady's head, the star ; the eldest king kneels, 
as always ; the second king presents his gift, which the 
Child accepts. These two are evidently portraits of the 
noble donors ; their robes are gorgeous. To the extreme 
R. stands St. Joseph, a fine figure. In the 2nd arch is the 
third or young king, represented as a Moor, (which is 
the rule in North Italian, German, and Flemish pictures.) 
A page kneels beside him and hands him his gift. (The 
three kings represent not only the three ages, but also 
Europe, Asia, and Africa, the two former more or less 
Christianised, the last still mainly Mahommedan or heathen, 
which accounts for the Moorish king being always repre- 



1 68 THE ACADEMY [vi. 

sented as just entering, and being separated here from the 
rest of the picture.) The peeping figure behind him is 
characteristic of late Venetian art. This is a work of great 
dignity and pure for its period. But compare it with the 
mosaic of the same subject in the Baptistery at St» 
Mark's ! 

284. Bonifazio 1. (MoreUi says II.— critics are much 
divided on all these attributions). Christ enthroned, a 
magistracy picture^ one of several in this room, from the 
office of the Entraie (Customs). Extreme R., St. Mark 
with his lion, representing Venice ; extreme L., St. Justina 
with her unicorn, (symbol of chastity,) representing Padua. 
Below the Christ, three kneeling saints, probably (almost 
certainly) the name-saints of the magistrates, whose coats 
of arms are painted beside them. To the L., St. Louis 
of Toulouse, with the crown he rejected standing close by, 
and King David (?) or Sigismund ij) : to the R., St. Dominic 
in Dominican robes, with the lily. Christ holds an open 
book, with an inscription enjoining on the magistrates to 
act with justice. This a very characteristic magistracy 
picture. 

Skied above these three last, and along the whole wall, 
are several admirable figures of saints, in pairs and 
threes, which consideration of space compels me to omit, 
and the grouping of which will now be tolerably compre- 
hensible to the reader. The names on the frames must 
suffice at this stage of your knowledge. They are all 
magistracy pictures, and they usually bear the coats of 
arms of the donors, which, with the saints, give their 
Christian names and surnames. Many of them are very 
fine pieces of colour, and all are good solid workmanlike 
paintings. Especially good is 277, St. Matthew and St. 
Oswald — an English saint, rare in Italy. 

287. Bonifazio II, Adoration of the Magi ; another 
tolerable work, which may be compared with the previous 
one. Note the cavalcade of the Magi to the R., as well 
as the arms of the donors. The evolution of the later 
Madonna and Child from the earher type is an interesting 



VI.] THE ACADEMY 169 

subject of study. Compare this backwards with the Titians, 
Cimas, Bellinis, Vivarinis. 

*29i. Bonifazio I. His masterpiece, and one of the 
finest pictures in this room. Lazarus and Dives ; in reality 
a getire picture of a splendid lordly entertainment. Dives 
bears some resemblance to Henry VIII. of England, who 
is said to be represented in his person. He sits at table, 
richly clad, between two courtesans, handsome and regally- 
robed Venetian ladies. The one to the R. listens to music, 
in a pensive attitude somewhat suggestive of regret for 
lost days of innocence. The musicians, and the page who 
holds the book of music, deserve close attention. To the 
extreme R., Lazarus begs, and dogs lick his sores ; but 
his introduction is just a bit of make-believe, to justify the 
central motive of the picture. Art was long before it 
could get over the superstition that every work must at 
least pretend to a sacred subject. Note the large archi- 
tecture and the expansive sense of space in this and other 
late Venetian pictures. Also, the domestic episodes in 
the background. The lordly style of art in the Venice 
of the 1 6th century, proper to a great commercial city, 
may be very well compared with the similar development 
of Flemish art in Rubens and his contemporaries, when 
Antwerp had taken the place of Venice. But this glowing 
work is also remarkable for its rare and high poetical ima- 
gination. 

295. Bonifazio I. The Judgment oi Solomon ; an ex- 
cellent (Magistracy) picture, which needs little comment. 
It enjoins Justice. 

In the come}- are several excellent portraits. 

End wall, 

302. Palma Vecchio. St. Peter enthroned, with othei 
saints. R., Paul, Justina of Padua, Augustine (more proba- 
bly, St. Tiziano of Oderzo, whence the picture comes : ) 
L., John the Baptist, Mark, and perhaps Catharine ; in the 
absence of definite symbols these later saints are often 
difficult to determine. Spoilt by repainting. 

Beyond it, several excellent pictures. After the apse, 



170 THE ACADEMY [VI. 

308. Bonijazio II. Adoration of the Magi ; Our Lady- 
sits between St. Mark and a sainted bishop, whose fleurs- 
de-lys show him to be almost certainly St. Louis of Tou- 
louse. Doubtless the donor was named Alvise. 

310. Pahna Vecchio. Christ and the daughter of the 
Canaanitish Woman. The personages have ample figures, 
and serene faces : possibly portraits. Above it, 

309. Bonifazio I. Christ and St. Philip ; " Philip, he 
that hath seen me," etc. A fine picture, very modern in 
conception. 

315. Palma Vecchio. Assumption. It is worthy of notice 
in this picture that the Glory surrounding Our Lady still 
retains some faint memory of the old form of the mandorla. 
Not a first-rate specimen of its artist : probably an early 
work. Altar-piece of the suppressed church of Santa Maria 
Maggiore. 

318. Bonifazio I. St. Mark. 

■^400. Titian (his last work). Deposition from the Cross ; 
Our Lady sustains the dead Christ ; Joseph of Arimathea, 
R. ; Mary Magdalen with pot of ointment, L. A noble 
and pathetic picture, which calls, however, for appreciation, 
not explanation. Titian painted it in his 99th year, but 
died before it was finished : Palma the younger finished it. 
It has been much injured by repainting. There is more 
real feeling in it than Titian often shows. 

314. Titian. St. John the Baptist. Unworthy of him. 

319. Bonifazio I. Massacre of the Innocents ; a good 
picture of this odious subject ; but the voluptuous figures 
and expressionless faces of the women wholly detract from 
the feeble attempt at pathos. A heartless work. Bonifazio 
thinks most of his choice of models and of his mode of 
posing them, very little of the horror and terror of the 
moment. Fine colour wasted. 

**320. Paris Bordone. The Doge and the Fisherman ; 
by far the most magnificent work of this painter. Before 
examining it, sit down and read the following account of 
its legendary subject : — 

[On February 25th, 1394, (others say, 1345,) owing to the 



VI.] THE ACADEMY 17I 

wickedness of a schoolmaster who committed suicide after 
selling himself to the devil, Venice was visited by a memor- 
able tempest. While it raged, an aged fisherman made 
fast his boat to the Molo near St. Mark's. As he lay 
there, a grave old man came out of the church, accosted 
him, and offered him a large sum to be ferried over to 
San Giorgio Maggiore. The fisherman, after hesitating, 
on account of the high waves, accepted, and rowed him 
across. There, the stranger went in, and fetched out a 
young man of knightly aspect, who joined them ; the two 
then asked to be carried across to San Niccolo di Lido, 
outside, near the mouth of the harbour. After protest, 
the fisherman yielded, and rowed them with difficulty. At 
San Niccolo, both strangers landed, and returned with a 
third person, a venerable old man ; whereupon they de- 
manded to be rowed between the forts which protected the 
harbour mouth into the open sea. When they reached 
the Adriatic, the fisherman beheld a boat manned by devils, 
which was coming with all speed to destroy Venice. The 
three strangers made the sign of the cross ; whereupon, 
the devils disappeared, and the storm ceased. At that, they 
rowed back, each to the place where he had embarked ; 
and the grave old man, who landed last at San Marco, 
being asked for the promised reward, made answer that 
he was the blessed Evangelist St. Mark, patron of Venice^ 
and that the Doge himself would recompense the boatman. 
The other two passengers, he said, were the holy martyr 
St. George and the blessed bishop St. Nicholas ; (in order 
to understand the story it is necessary to remember that 
the bodies or relics of all three of these saints were pre- 
served at Venice, in these three churches.) The fisherman 
demurred, and pressed for payment ; but St. Mark, taking 
his ring from his finger, handed it to the man, bidding him 
show the Doge that, and ask for the promised money. The 
fisherman took it, and presented himself before the Doge 
next morning with the ring. The Procurators of St. Mark, 
looking for the ring, which was kept locked up in the 
sanctuary, found it missing, though the triple lock had 



172 THE ACADEMY [vi. 

not been tampered with. Thereupon they knew that this 
was a great miracle. The fisherman received a pension 
for life, and a Mass was solemnly said in St. Mark's in 
gratitude for the averted danger.] 

Now, turn to the picture. Bordone envisages the scene 
as a great Venetian state ceremonial. To the R., the 
majestic Doge sits enthroned, in his cap and robe of office, 
under a noble (imaginary) loggia, amid magnificent Renais- 
sance architecture. On high seats by his side, and with 
splendid carpets spread beneath their feet, we see ranged 
the dignified senators, splendid portraits of stately Venetian 
aristocrats, in gorgeous robes gloriously painted. The 
fisherman, escorted by a chamberlain, mounts the steps 
in his simple garments, with his limbs bare, and humbly 
presents to the Most Serene Prince the ring which is to 
prove the truth of his story. At the foot of the steps bows 
a second chamberlain. Behind stand a group of Venetian 
gentlemen. In the foreground, the fisherman's boy, a grace- 
ful and beautiful figure, lounges carelessly on the steps near 
his father's gondola. The background consists of magnifi- 
cent ideal architecture, suggested by that of Sansovino's 
Libreria Vecchia. Every detail of this luminous and 
gracious work, the finest ceremonial picture ever painted, 
should be closely observed and noted ; it has poetry and 
romance as well as dignity and splendour. The decorative 
detail of the marble and tiles, and of the recesses behind 
the Doge's chair, is alone worth much study. The manage- 
ment of light and shade, by which the Doge's figure stands 
out so conspicuously against a dark ground, is very masterly. 
This fine work, representing so great and so late a miracle 
of St. Mark, was painted as one of the decorations for the 
Scuola di San Marco, which we shall visit later. (So, you 
will remember, were Tintoretto's St. Mark rescuing a 
tortured slave, and several others in this collection. Piece 
together your knowledge.) 
After this feast of glory, it is a sad falling off to look at 
322. Paradise, by the same painter, — a picture in type 
like one we have seen before, representing, at the top, the 



VI.] THE ACADEMY 173 

Coronation of the Virgin, and bel-ow, a confused assemblage 
of all the saints, many of them recognisable by their 
symbols. It was painted, as is usual with this class of 
subject, for a church of Ogni Santi (at Treviso). An 
unpleasant, turbid, crude-toned picture. 

321. Pordenone. A Madonna della Misericordia, with 
little angels supporting her mantle, which falls over two 
beatified Carmelite Fathers and a group of Votaries of the 
Society of Carmel, (the Ottobon family, donors of the 
picture.) This is a somewhat unsuccessful and artificial 
attempt to adapt the old idea of Our Lady sheltering 
devotees under her cloak, to the conceptions of art in the 
great period. 

*3i6. Pordenone. His masterpiece ; altar-piece of San 
Lorenzo Giustiniani. In the centre the sainted bishop, first 
Patriarch of Venice (see No. 570 in Room XV.), stands 
under a characteristic Venetian chapel (like those of St. 
Mark's) attended by two acolytes in blue caps like his own. 
His features are finely ascetic — they suggest Cardinal 
Manning's. In the foreground are Franciscan saints ; St. 
Francis, kneeling ; St. Louis of Toulouse, erect, in bishop's 
robes and mitre, surmounted by a Franciscan cowl (so that 
there may be no mistake about him) ; and the familiar 
earnest saintly face of St. Bernardino of Siena. To the 
R., a huge St. John the Baptist (with his symbol, the Lamb 
of God) occupies a little too much of the picture. His 
anatomy is good, but he is positively gigantic. (Such dis- 
proportion is frequent with Pordenone.) This excellent 
if somewhat frigid work was an altar-piece on the altar 
of the saint in the Franciscan church of the Madonna dell' 
Orto. It is an admirable picture of its kind, aiming hard 
at an arrangement of the saints in natural attitudes. San 
Lorenzo's face is admirably reproduced from earlier por- 
traits. If once the names and grouping of the characters 
are thoroughly understood, I do not think this fine com- 
position is open to the criticisms often brought against 
it by those who misconceive its meaning. 

328. SavoldOj a Brescian artist, whose works often 



174 THE ACADEMY [vi. 

strangely suggest quite modern painting. The two great 
Anchorites of the Theban desert, St. Antony Abbot and 
St. Paul the Hermit. 

The end wall has two good single saints, by MorettOy 
331 and 332, "^Peter and John the Baptist ; and a Rocco 
Marconi^ 334, Christ and the Woman taken in Adultery ; 
works requiring little comment. 

The Long Corridor beyond this, known as the Loggia 
Palladiano, (because occupying part of Palladio's building,) 
contains chiefly modern works, or those of the 17th and 
1 8th centuries, to which, unless your time is unlimited, you 
need not devote much attention. Among them are several 
good Dutch landscapes and poultry-pieces, by Hondekoeter, 
Fyt, and others, excellent in their way, but out of tone 
with Venice, and needing no comment. 

The rooms to the R. of this Corridor have works by 
the Bassani and their successors, most of which are also 
of relatively little importance, though they afford materials 
for gauging the slow decline of Venetian art. They may 
likewise be left to the reader's own consideration. 

The Corridor beyond. Branch /., contains a single once- 
famous picture, 516, — a huge murky canvas, long attributed 
to Giorgione, (it may once have been his in outline,) and 
still of much-debated authorship. It is at present officially 
set down to Palma VeccMo, (to whom Vasari attributed it ;) 
but has been so much restored and muddled about by 
patchers that it is now of no artistic value. It represents 
the Storm at Sea already referred to in connection with 
Paris Bordone's magnificent picture of the Doge and the 
Fisherman. (Some authorities even attribute it to Bordone.) 
The shipload of devils are on their way to overwhelm 
Venice, some of them being detached in small boats, or 
riding very dubious and grotesque sea-monsters. To the 
R., a little in the background, ill-descried, and without their 
proper prominence in the composition, are the fisherman 
and his boatload of Venetian patrons — St. Mark, St. George, 
and St. Nicholas. The saints are peculiarly unimpressive. 
Though this picture now possesses very little interest as a 



VI.] THE ACADEMY 1 75 

work of art, (and can never have been first-rate,) it deserves 
to be looked at for its connection with the famous and 
glorious Bordone, to which it was a pendent. It comes, 
like that great work, from the Scuola di San Marco. 

The Corridor beyond this again, Branch JI., contains 
unimportant canvases of the Decadence, when the mannerism 
of later Venetian art had wholly destroyed its beauty and 
spontaneity. The witidows here afford a good view of the 
Inner Court of the Caritk, and, to the L., of Palladio's New 
Building. 

Return often to the Academy, and remember always that 
many admirable pictures are omitted here for want of space. 
Those who desire more information about all these works 
can use Karl Karoly's excellent Guide to The Pictu7'es of 
Venice^ which gives a bewildering variety of discordant 
opinions about each work from all the recognised critical 
authorities. 



VII 

THE DOGE'S PALACE 

Interior 

aN 14 19, Gentile da Fabriano and Vittore Pisano, two 
of the greatest artists of their age, were invited to 
Venice by the signory in order to decorate the interior of 
the Doge's Palace, at an age when native artistic talent was 
still deficient in the lagoons. They must no doubt have 
produced some of their finest works in this building. At 
the close of the 15th century, again, when the great native 
school of the Bellini had developed its peculiar local excel- 
lences, the chief painters of that golden age were further 
commissioned to adorn with paintings the new portions of 
the Palace, recently completed. We cannot doubt that 
many of the noblest creations of Giovanni and Gentile 
Bellini, Cima, Catena, Bissolo, and their contemporaries 
were painted for this purpose ; while some of Titian's most 
splendid works also decorated the walls of the state apart- 
ments. Unfortunately, however, almost all these once 
famous masterpieces perished in the terrible fire of 1574, 
while the later fire of 1577 destroyed the remainder. We 
are thus left, both here and elsewhere, with mere scattered 
fragments of the artistic works produced by the finest age 
of Venetian painting. 

After the great fires, however, the halls were restored 
with fitting magnificence, and decorated anew with a series 
of sumptuous paintings, mainly by Tintoretto, Paolo 
Veronese, and Palma the younger, who are here seen 
to the best advantage. These works are too numerous (and 
often too similar) for description in full, while many of them, 

176 



VII.] THE DOGE'S PALACE 177 

being classical in subject or presenting slight variants on 
now familiar themes, require comparatively little explana- 
tion. Hand-catalogues are also supplied by the authorities 
in all the rooms, and by their aid the visitor can identify for 
himself the various subjects. I therefore limit myself for 
the most part in this book to describing the following three 
sets of compositions : — 
(i) The great masterpieces ; 

(2) The pictures specially requiring explanation ; and, 

(3) Those which call for brief notes on peculiar variants 
of the customary themes. 

Many of the pictures, however, which I do not notice are 
thoroughly deserving of attentive study by those whose time 
suffices for the purpose. 

Remember that the pictures in the Doge's Palace thus 
represent only the las^ great age of Venetian painting.] 

The Palace is open daily rom 9 to 3 ; admission, i '20 c. 
per person. It is also open free on Sundays and public 
holidays, from 10 to 2 ; but as the order in which the rooms 
must be visited is then altered, and no hand- catalogues are 
supplied, I do not advise you to see it on a free day. Pay like 
a man, and see the pictures properly in the right succession. 

The entrance is at the top of the Scala dei Giganti; 
tickets are taken in the loggia on the first floor. Thence 
you mount the steps, and pass above the Principal Floor to 
the highest story, which (owing to the peculiar construction 
of the lower ranges) contains most of the chief reception 
rooms of the Palace. (The lower floors are mainly occupied 
by the loggie : no doubt the jealous Venetian oligarchy pur- 
posely raised itself to this safe height above popular spying.) 
We ascend on week-days by the Scala dOro^ or Golden 
Stairs, so called from its gilt and painted ceiling : erected 
by Sansovino, 1556, Up this staircase, in the days of the 
Republic, only those nobles whose names were written in 
the Libro d'Oro were permitted to pass. 

At the top of the steps we enter first a httle ante-room 
known as the 

G. V. M 



178 THE DOGE'S PALACE [vil. 

Atrio Quadrato, 

which is practically the main vestibule of the Palace. Its 
walls are hung with good portraits of senators, by Tintoretto. 
The ceiling, also by Tintoretto, represents Doge Lorenzo 
Priuli receiving the sword of office from the hands of Justice. 
Above, in clouds, St. Mark is enthroned as representative of 
Venice ; below, in presence of the personified, crowned and 
seated Venezia, Justice, holding her balance, presents the 
sword to the aged Doge, who wears his richly-jewelled robe 
and cap of office. 
A door to the L. admits to the 

Sala delle Quattro Porte, 

so called from its four entrances. This was the hall through 
which ambassadors to the Republic were conducted to the 
waiting-room. On the entrance wall, in the centre, is a 
famous picture by Titian, known as the *Fede ; all these 
pictures, however, though commonly called by such sacred 
names, are best treated as portraits of Doges^ represented in 
the act of adoring some saint or Madonna. The Doge in 
this instance is Antonio Qrimani, (1521-23 :) he kneels, in 
armour, covered by a rich robe, on a footstool. He has 
removed his cap of office, but retains the ugly white linen 
skull-cap beneath it. A page by his side holds the jewelled 
ducal crown. To the R. are halberdiers in attendance, 
beside a rich red curtain. The figure before which Grimani 
kneels is not a saint, but a personification of Faith, holding 
the cross and cup, and surrounded by a luminous glory of 
cherubs. Faith is very theatrical, almost vulgar : she fore- 
shadows the rococo. To the L., St. Mark with his lion 
represents Venice; the town itself, as it existed in Grimani's 
time, is seen in the background. This is the whole of 
Titian's picture, painted for another apartment : having 
been removed later to this room, and to a wall too large 
for it, the additional figures at either end were added by 
his nephew, Marco Vecelli. The whole work is a fine, 
brilliantly-coloured, vigorous, unpoetic picture. 

R. of the door, Doge Marino Grimani kneeling before the 



VII.] THE DOGE'S PALACE 179 

Virgin and Child, by Giovanni Contarini, a pupil of Titian's. 
St. Mark directs the Doge's gaze to Our Lady and the 
Child ; on the R. is St. Sebastian ; in the centre back- 
ground, Grimani's personal patron, Santa Marina. 

The corresponding picture to the L. represents the re-con- 
quest of Verona by Venice from the Duke of Milan, in 1439, 
also by Contarini : feeble. 

The wall opposite this is covered by three canvases of 
less artistic interest, representing Venice as the host and 
arbiter of foreign nations. L., the Ambassadors of Nurem- 
berg accept the arbitration of the Doge and senate on 
their law of apprenticeship, by Gabriele Caliari. 

Centre, Henry III. of France is hospitably received in 
state at Venice, by Andrea Vicentino : the picture shows 
the triumphal arch erected for the occasion. 

R., the Persian ambassadors bring presents of rich 
oriental fabrics from the Shah to Doge Marino Grimani, 
in 1603, by Carletto Caliari. 

The ceiling is painted by Tintoretto, but has been ruined 
by repainting. Its central panel represents Jupiter bestow- 
ing on Venice the sovereignty of the sea ; in the back- 
ground a riotous chorus of gods. Note the appearance 
here of pagan mythology. 

The door opposite to that by which you entered leads to 

the 

Antecollegio, 

with a florid late Renaissance mantelpiece. Here am- 
bassadors sat to await their audience. This room is 
chiefly decorated with mythological pictures^ representing 
the wealth, power, and arts of later Venice. 

L. of the door by which you enter, Tintoretto, "^Mer- 
cury with the Graces, — the commerce and civilization of 
Venice ; noble specimens of nude figures, admirably ren- 
dered. 

Opposite this ^■'^Bacchus and Ariadne, also by Tintoretto. 
Ariadne, deserted in Naxos by Theseus, is discovered by 
Bacchus, wreathed in vine leaves : Venus crowns her with 
the stars of her constellation. A beautiful picture, with 



l8o THE DOGE'S PALACE [vil. 

exquisitely blended colours, full of poetry, of fancy, and of 
fleet movement. 

Beyond the door, •^Minerva repelling Mars, by Tintoretto 
— wise counsel saves Venice from war : to the L., Peace 
brings plenty to Venice. 

Wall opposite the windows^ Paolo Veronese, "^Europa 
carried off by Jupiter, in the guise of a bull ; one of Paolo's 
most famous and beautiful pictures, yet with germs of deca- 
dence. 

The dark canvas beside this last represents Jacob's 
return from Laban, by Leandro Bassano. These two 
pictures were not painted for the places they occupy : in- 
trusive works. 

Between this and the door of entrance, the Forge of 
Vulcan, by Tintoretto, representing the handicrafts of 
Venice : murky and gloomy. 

The next door leads to the 

Sala del Collegio. 

This was the hall in which ambassadors were received by 
the Doge, sitting on a throne of state on the dais at its 
further end : beside him sat the signory. 

Over the door of entrance, Tintoretto, "^portrait of Doge 
Andrea Gritti. To the L. stands the Doge, in his cap and 
robe of office, admirably painted. At his feet, angels typifj 
peace and plenty. St. Mark, holding his Gospel, directs the 
Doge's look towards the Virgin. On a high throne to the 
R. sits Our Lady with the Child, a graceful and gracious 
figure. Around her spreads a luminous halo of cherubs, 
still slightly mandorla-shaped. On the R. are Franciscan 
saints, (representative of the order which Gritti specially 
affected,) St. Bernardino of Siena, with his glowing I.H.S., 
and St. Louis of Toulouse. The centre of the picture is 
occupied by a youthful martyr, probably St. Marina, bearing 
a palm, and presenting one of the Doge's children to Our 
Lady. (Padua was taken on St. Marina's day.) 

Over the door to the L. of this, Tintoretto, commonly 
though absurdly known as the "Marriage of St. Catherine"; 



VII.] THE DOGE'S PALACE l8l 

^portrait of Doge Francesco Donate, who is presented by 
St. Mark, bearing his Gospel. Behind him, angels (or 
rather virtues, Prudence and Temperance) bearing plenty 
to Venice. Below, the Doge's personal patron, St. Francis. 
The L. of the picture is occupied by Our Lady and the 
Child, the latter in the act of placing a ring on the finger 
of *St. Catharine of Alexandria, crowned and holding her 
wheel. The Doge thus shows his devotion to Our Lady 
and to the patron saint of the Venetian territory. Back- 
ground of the lagoon. 

The centre of the wall is occupied by another Tintoretto, 
Doge Nicolo da Ponte kneeling before Our Lady. The 
Doge is introduced, as usual, by his official patron, St. 
Mark. Beside him stands Nicolo's personal patron. Saint 
Nicolas, over whose head angels hold the bishop's mitre. 
The Most Serene Prince is engaged in adoring a heavenly 
group composed of -^Our Lady and the Child, (one of Tinto- 
retto's most charming Madonnas,) St. Antony with his 
crutch and bell, and St. Joseph. In the background, 
Venice. All these pictures are very characteristic portraits 
of Doges with the special objects of their adoration. We 
have now travelled a far cry indeed from the primitive little 
figure of the kneeling donor, so common in early Venetian 
altar-pieces. 

The rest of this wall is filled by a Tintoretto : portrait of 
Doge Alvise Mocenigo adoring the Saviour, who appears 
in clouds of luminous glory to the L. of the picture. Beneath 
him, an angel. St. Mark introduces the kneeling Doge. 
The right-hand side of the picture is occupied by two 
brothers of the Doge, in prayer, with their patrons, St. 
Nicolas and St. Andrew. Behind them are St. John the 
Baptist and St. Louis of Toulouse, (Doge Alvise's personal 
patron,) with a long perspective of the Libreria Vecchia and 
the Campanile. 

Over the throne, which occupies the centre of the dais, 
■^portrait of Doge Sebastiano Venier, rendering thanks to 
the Saviour for the victory of Lepanto, (in which he took 
part,) by Paolo Veronese. The Doge is introduced by St. 



l82 THE DOGE'S PALACE [VII. 

Mark and (I think) St. Justina of Padua (on whose day the 
battle was fought). Behind him, another saint, perhaps St. 
Catharine, holds his ducal crown ; pages support his robe 
and helmet. To the L. kneels Faith, with the symbolical 
cup. Beyond her, we catch a glimpse of the battle of 
Lepanto, which is here votively commemorated. Behind the 
Doge stands the heroic Agostino Barbarigo, the real con- 
queror, (killed in the battle,) holding the consecrated banner 
of St. George. In clouds, we see the Saviour, bearing the 
crystal globe, giving his benediction, and visibly ordering 
the affairs of the universe. The figures in painted niches at 
the sides are the Doge's two patrons, St. Justina (his lucky 
day) and St. Sebastian (his name-saint). 

The rich ceiling is entirely painted by Paolo Veronese. 
In its centre oval is Faith ; over the dais, ^Venice enthroned 
on a globe, attended by Peace and Justice. 

Renaissance mantelpiece. 

The door here gives access to the 

Sala del Senato, 

still fitted up with the Doge's throne, stalls for the Procura- 
tors, and the seat of the Senators. Its decorations, less 
rich, are mainly by Palma the younger. 

End wail, opposite the throne, "^portraits of Doges 
Lorenzo and Girolamo Priuli, brothers who successively 
held the dukedom, by Palma the younger. To the R. kneels 
Girolamo, attended by his namesake St. Jerome, with his 
lion and his translation of the Vulgate. To the L. is 
Lorenzo, with his namesake St. Lawrence. (The tomb of 
these two Doges, similarly attended by their two patrons, 
covers a wall in San Salvatore, and may be profitably 
visited in connection with this picture.) Above, in clouds, 
a feeble figure of Christ, attended by St. Mark and the 
Blessed Virgin, This is a good Palma, but far inferior to 
the Tintorettos and Veroneses. 

Window wall, San Lorenzo Giustiniani elected as first 
patriarch of Venice in 145 1, by Titian's nephew, Marcc 
Vecelli. 



VII.] THE DOGE'S PALACE 1 83 

Wall opposite this, to the L., portrait of Doge Pietro 
Loredan by Tintoretto. L., his patron, St. Peter ; R., 
St. Louis of Toulouse. Above, L., Our Lady, in clouds, 
as the Madonna of the Immaculate Conception, surrounded 
with stars, and without the Infant : this new form of 
Virgin was then the most popular embodiment of the 
Madonna : R., St. Mark with his lion. Background of 
St. Mark's, the Campanile, the Clock Tower, etc. 

Over the door, a picture by Palma the younger, symbolical 
of the resistance to the League of Cambrai, formed by the 
European powers to crush Venice. In the centre. Doge 
Leonardo Loredan, crowned by angels. To the L., Venice, 
with the lion of St. Mark and the sword of Justice, eagerly 
attacking Europe on a bull. Europe bears a shield blazoned 
with the various arms of the allied states. To the L., 
allegorical figures bring corn and plenty to Venice ; the 
length of her purse makes her capable of withstanding 
united Europe. 

To the R. of this. Portrait of Doge Pasquale Cicogna, by 
Palma the younger. The Doge kneels before the risen 
Saviour, to whom he is introduced by St. Mark, though, 
oddly enough, he is looking away towards the allegorical 
figure representing, I believe, Crete, and holding a labyrinth 
as symbol. (Cicogna had been governor of the island.) To 
the R., Faith ; to the L., Peace and Justice, embracing, with 
the olive branch and scales. Very emblematic. 

The last picture on this wall is a portrait of Doge 
Francesco Venier, by Palma the younger. It shows the last 
stage in the de-Christianisation of these Doges' portraits. 
Note that the Doge stands no longer before Our Lady or a 
saint, but before enthroned Venice, to whom he presents the 
various cities of which he has been governor, typified by 
beautiful female attendants. Above, on the R., are St- Mark, 
and the Doge's personal patron, St. Francis. 

Over the throne, "^portraits of two Doges, by Tintoretto. 
To the L. kneels Doge Marc' Antonio Trevisano, accom- 
panied by his patron, St. Antony the Abbot, with his crutch 
and bell. Close by, to the L., is the wounded St. Sebastian^ 



184 THE DOGE'S PALACE [vil. 

a precaution against plague. To the R. kneels Doge Pietro 
Lando, accompanied by St. Mark and by his own patron, 
St. Peter Martyr, near whom stands his spiritual father, St. 
Dominic, with the lily. The central, or spiritual portion of 
the picture is occupied by a fine Pietk, the dead Christ 
supported by angels : the St. Mark and St. John to the L. 
appear to be writing their Gospel accounts of the Cruci- 
fixion. 

Of the numerous pictures in the magnificent painted 
ceiling, the most important is the central panel, by Tinto- 
retto, representing Venice enthroned among the gods as Queen 
of the Sea, wi*-h Tritons and Nereids rising from below and 
bearing their gifts from the ocean. Careful examination of 
this fine and sweeping but confused work will bring out 
many hidden allegorical meanings. 

The door to the R. of the throne gives access to the 

Antichiesetta, or Vestibule of the Doge's 
Private Oratory. 

Of the pictures which this small apartment contains, only 
two or three need here be noticed. Opposite the door by 
which you enter, "^Tintoretto, the Princess and the Dragon. 
This is clearly an allegorical work, the meaning of which I 
have never succeeded in satisfactorily deciphering. St. 
George, in armour, has dismounted from his horse ; the 
Princess is bestriding the conquered beast ; to the R, is a 
handsome young bishop, whom I take for St. Louis of 
Toulouse. The picture must cover some political fact (like 
that which represents the League of Cambrai ;) but I must 
leave the solution of this difficult problem to the ingenuity 
of my readers. Opposite^ over the door by which you entered, 
two memorial magisterial saints, St. Jerome and St. Andrew, 
by Tintoretto. 

Most of the other pictures in this room are paintings by 
Rizzi, designs for the mosaic which now adorn the fagade of 
St. Mark's. You will recognise their subjects. 



VII.] THE DOGE'S PALACE 185 

We enter next the 

Chiesetta, or Private Oratory of the 
Doges, 

where mass was said daily by the Ducal chaplain. 

The altar=piece is formed by a sculptured Madonna and 
Child, by Sansovino, in a Renaissance niche, over which are 
placed the arms of Doge Pasquale Cicogna, a crane, (the 
meaning of his name in Italian,) with the ducal cap above it. 
Of the pictures which it contains I will only notice four 
early Madonnas, more or less of the school of Bellini, none 
of them of high merit ; and, on the L. wall, near the altar? 
a Pietk, by Paris Bordone, chiefly noticeable for the uncon- 
ventional and unsymmetrical arrangement of the mourning 
angels. Near this is a harsh early-Renaissance Nether- 
landish picture (by Mostaert ?) of Christ bound to the 
column. 

Return now through the Sala del Senato and the Sala 
delle Quattro Porte, and enter, through a little anteroom, 
the 

Sala del Consiglio dei Diecl 

The Council of Ten, the Venetian " Star Chamber," sat 
in this apartment. It was armed with summary adminis- 
trative-judicial powers. The pictures in this fine hall are 
for the most part late in date and inferior in merit. They 
represent episodes (more or less real) in the past history 
of Venice, supposed to reflect special glory upon the 
Republic. 

Wall of entrance, L. and F. Bassano, a huge and some- 
what confused canvas representing Pope Alexander III. 
coming forth to meet Doge Sebastiano Ziani on his return 
from his victory over Frederic Barbarossa, in the war which 
Venice undertook against the Emperor in defence of the 
fugitive Pope. The Doge in armour, enveloped in an ample 
robe of state, stands near the centre of the picture, his 



1 86 THE DOGE'S PALACE [vil. 

mantle and cap borne by pages. The proscribed Pope, 
under a portable canopy, welcomes his champion, sur- 
rounded by cardinals, bishops, and other ecclesiastics. The 
Bassani, like other Venetians of their age, envisage the 
scene as though it took place with the arms and costume of 
their own period. 

Opposite this, Marco Vecelli, (Titian's nephew,) the 
Peace of Bologna, between Pope Clement VII. and the 
Emperor Charles V., in 1529. This is a self-explanatory 
picture, of a fine ceremonial character, with excellent por- 
traits, and a stately somewhat formal arrangement of the 
component personages. 

The end-wall is occupied by a dark and confused 
Adoration of the Magi, by Aliense, a feeble follower of 
Tintoretto, who has sedulously acquired the master's faults 
without his conspicuous merits. 

The ceiling is by Veronese and his followers, typical of 
the glory of Venice. The best compartment is the one just 
above the Pope and Emperor's head ; it represents wealth 
showered down into the lap of Venice. The figure of an 
old man, with his head on his chin, (in the compartment 
by the corner between the Magi and Pope Alexander III.,) 
is by Veronese. 

The next room is the 

Sala della Bussola, 

with uninteresting pictures, chiefly of military operations — 
taking of Brescia, Bergamo, etc., confused and unsatisfac- 
tory. The Doge opposite the windows is Leonardo Donato, 
by Marco Vecelli. 

The little room to the R, of this last picture is the 

Stanza dei Tre Capi del Consiglio. 

These were the inner circle of the Ten, a cabinet within a 
cabinet. L. of the entrance door, Catena, Doge Leonardo 



VII.] THE DOGE'S PALACE 1 87 

Loredan adoring Our Lady ; a picture of the earlier type, 
where the Doge's portrait is still duly subordinate to the 
sacred subject : he is introduced to Our Lady by St. Mark, 
who is balanced by St. John the Baptist ; a good picture in 
a hard, dry, early manner. 

Next to it, Bonifazio, St. Christopher bearing the infant 
Christ, between St. John the Baptist and St. John the 
Evangelist. This is a magistracy picture, bearing the arms 
of the three donors, whose surnames are thus indicated, 
while their Christian names are allusively given by their 
patrons. 

The central panel of the ceiling is by Veronese ; it re- 
presents the Virtues driving away the Vices. 

Return to the hall last visited, (della Bussola,) and de- 
scend the staircase known as the Scala dei Censori, to the 
Principal Floor of the Palace. 

The vast room to the L. at the bottom of this staircase is 
the 

Sala del Maggior Consiglio, 
which forms the greater part of the South Front of the 
Palace. This immense chamber was built for the Council 
of Nobles, the most popular and sovereign assembly in the 
closely oligarchal Venetian constitution, for whose sake 
mainly the existing building was erected. Every adult man 
whose name was inscribed in the Libro d'Oro belonged to it 
by right of birth. 

Before you begin the examination of the pictures in de- 
tail, look well first at the great hall itself, with its palatial 
decorations. Also, go out on to the South Balcofty, which 
you have already seen from the outside, both in order to 
orient yourself, and for the sake of the beautiful "^view 
over the lagoon and the island of San Giorgio, as well as 
the Giudecca, the Salute, and the tapering point by the 
Dogana. This balcony likewise affords the best front view 



THE DOGE'S PALACE [vil. 

of the Izon of St. Mark on the granite column, with his 
fore paws placed on the open Gospel : well seen with an 
opera-glass. Examine here also the detail of the window 
and its decorations. 

Re=enter the hall. The whole of the end wall above 
the Doge^s throne is entirely occupied by Tintoretto's 
gigantic picture '^^Paradise, (proudly pointed to by the 
guides as "the largest oil-painting in the world.") It is a 
huge, black, gloomy, and confused picture, sadly lacking 
focal concentration, but containing a vast number of ad- 
mirable single figures, and full in parts of great and vigorous 
drawing. A colossal but uncurbed imagination here runs 
riot. I will only attempt to give a very general conception 
of the immense design. It is based upon the old conventional 
type of Paradise, but utterly altered in treatment in accord- 
ance with Tintoretto's own revolutionary conceptions. The 
centre of the upper portion of the picture is occupied by the 
usual figures of Christ and Our Lady, (with exquisitely ten- 
der faces,) seen against a luminous background of glory : 
beneath their feet is a cloud-borne floor of cherubs. To the 
L. soars the flying figure of the archangel Gabriel, with the 
Annunciation lily, close to Our Lady. To the R., the arch- 
angel Michael holds the scales in which he weighs souls, 
close to the Saviour, who is thus shown to be sitting in His 
character of Judge. These positions are of course tradi- 
tional : you may remember them in the Campo Santo at 
Pisa. In the centre below, just under the floor of cherubs, 
looms the third archangel, Raphael, almost nude, and with 
feminine features and figure, occupying the same place as 
he always does in all pictures of the Last Judgment, from 
Orcagna downward. L. and R. of Raphael, but supported 
on another floor of angels, (each floor standing for a separate 
angelic grade,) are seated the Four Evangelists ; to the L., 
St. Mark with his lion, and St. Luke with his bull ; to the 
R., St. Matthew with his angel, and St. John with his eagle ; 
these four have very luminous halos, and each holds the 
book of his Gospel. The L. side of the picture is mainly 
occupied by a confused tumult of patriarchs, prophets, and 



VII.] THE DOGE'S PALACE 189 

Old Testament saints, conspicuous among whom are Moses 
with his horns of light, and David with his harp : near them, 
Noah and Solomon. On the R. side are gathered most of 
the greater saints of Christendom, many of whom you may 
gradually make out (with an opera-glass) by means of their 
symbols. Among the most notable are the Four Doctors 
of the Church, discriminated by their larger and brighter 
halos. The remainder of this saintly and angelic throng I 
must leave to the reader's personal intelligence, with the 
following hints. The heavenly hierarchy is represented in 
the picture by concentric semicircles of seraphs, cherubs, 
thrones, dominations, virtues, and powers. To the far L., 
below, virgins, including monks : to the far R., below, mar- 
tyrs. The fair-haired figure at the very base, in the centre, 
just over the Doge's throne, is said to represent the Angel 
of Venice, rising from the waves, and imploring the assist- 
ance of heaven for the Republic. You must look long and 
carefully at this wonderful picture, from many points of 
view, if you wish to read its full meaning. Ruskin has 
overpraised it. It can only be fully comprehended by 
minute comparison with earlier Paradises elsewhere. 
Photographs assist. 

The other walls of this room are occupied, above, by 
mediocre portraits of all the Doges, in many cases either 
imaginary or modernised from early representations ; and, 
below, by two series of pseudo-historical works, representing 
somewhat imaginary episodes in the history of Venice, 
from the point of view in which the later Venetians desired 
to see them. These works are artistically of inferior 
merit, and I will merely give in brief the names of their 
subjects : — 

The wall to the L. contains the story of the war under- 
taken by Venice against Frederic Barbarossa, in defence 
of Pope Alexander III. 

(i.) Beginning just to the R. of the Paradise: School of 
Paolo Veronese. The Doge Ziani receives the fugitive Pope 
Alexander III. at the convent of La Carit^. 

(2.) School of Paolo Veronese. Venice and the Pope 



190 THE DOGE'S PALACE [vil. 

send ambassadors to Frederic Barbarossa : the ambassa- 
dors are seen departing from Parma on their way to the 
Emperor's court at Pavia. 

Above a window, (3.) L. Bassano. The Pope gives the 
Doge a consecrated candle. 

(4.) Tintoretto. The ambassadors before Barbarossa, 
who refuses to acknowledge Alexander III. as Pope. 

(5.) F. Bassano. The Pope presents the Doge with a 
consecrated sword. The chief interest of this crowded 
picture lies in the fact that it well and accurately depicts 
the Ve7iice of Bassands own titne, with groups of ladies in 
the loggia of the Doge's Palace ; it is thus useful as an 
historical document, noi for the age it pretends to represent, 
but for the age in which it was painted. This is more or 
less true of all the other pictures in the series. 

Above a window, (6.) Fiammingo. The Doge sets out 
for war, with the Pope's blessing. 

(7.) Tintoretto the younger (a very minor painter : do not 
confuse him with his father). The Battle of Salvore, in 
which the Venetians, after a fierce struggle, conquered the 
Imperialists, and took prisoner the Emperor's son Otho. 
As a matter of fact, this famous battle is imaginary, — one 
of the pious patriotic frauds of later Venetian historians. 

Over a door, (8.) Andrea Vicentino. The Doge brings 
back to the Pope the conquered Otho. 

(9.) Palma the younger. The Pope sends Otho to his 
father, to induce him to recognise Alexander's claim to the 
Papacy. 

(10.) Zucchero. The Emperor Frederic Barbarossa kneels 
in submission before the Pope. The episode is said to have 
taken place in the atrium of St. Mark's — a legendary tale 
made much of in later Venetian history. Venice as a 
Republic was always opposed to the Imperial claims, and 
this half apocryphal story of Barbarossa's humiliation is a 
picturesque embodiment of the Guelf theory of Italian free- 
dom against the autocratic pretensions of the Franconian 
Emperors. (The adherents of the Pope were called Guelfs ; 
the adherents of the Emperor, Ghibellines.) 



VII.] THE DOGE'S PALACE I9I 

Over a door, (11.) Gamberato. The Doge escorts the 
Pope and the Emperor to Ancona, on their way to Rome. 

End wall, (12.) Giulio dal Moro. The Pope presents 
consecrated banners to the Doge in the church of St. John 
Lateran at Rome. 

Though these works are of relatively httle interest from 
an artistic point of view, they deserve notice as an embodi- 
ment of the same type of popular ideas of past events as 
those represented in English history by the story of Alfred 
burning the cakes or of Canute and his courtiers. More 
still : they influenced and coloured thought in later Venice. 

The series on the R. wall represents, in the same manner, 
the popular Venetian story of the part borne by Doge Enrico 
Dandolo in the great (4th) Crusade, and in the conquest of 
Constantinople. 

Begin once more near Tintoretto's Paradise : — 

(i.) Giovanni Le Clerc. Doge Enrico Dandolo, en- 
throned in St. Mark's, concludes an alliance with the 
Crusaders in 1201. The RepubHc was the only power 
which could furnish the necessary ships for transporting 
so large a body of men by sea. It was thus this Crusade 
which above all else established the supremacy of Venice 
in the East. 

(2,) Andrea Vicentino. The French and Venetian 
Crusaders, by a mean bargain, besiege Zara, on the 
Dalmatian coast, on their way to the east. 

(3.) Tintoretto the younger. The surrender of Zara. 

(4.) Andrea Vicentino. Alexis, son of the dethroned 
Greek Emperor Isaac, asks the aid of Venice for his father, 
thus affording an excuse for the coming conquest of Con- 
stantinople by the Franks and Venetians. 

(5.) Palma the younger. The Franks and Venetians 
conquer Constantinople, 1203. This is the first conquest, 
when Isaac was restored to the throne on condition of pay- 
ing a heavy subsidy, and conforming to the Catholic Church. 
Isaac did not fulfil these onerous conditions, so — 

(6.) Tintoretto the younger. The Franks and Venetians 
reconquer Constantinople, 1204. It was on this occasion 



192 THE DOGE'S PALACE [vil. 

that the Doge sent to Venice the Bronze Horses, the relics 
of St. James and St. George, the Head of St. John the 
Baptist, and the body of St. Lucy. Bodies of saints were 
the chief articles of import during the early middle ages. 

(7.) Andrea Vicentino. The Crusaders, in St. Sophia, 
elect Baldwin of Flanders as Emperor of the East. 

End wall, (8.) Aliense. Doge Enrico Dandolo crowns 
Baldwin as Emperor. 

Between the windows is a picture by Paolo Veronese re- 
presenting one of the other heroic exploits of Venice in the 
War of Chioggia, in which she overcame the Genoese, and 
made herself finally mistress of the Mediterranean. Its 
subject is the return of Doge Andrea Contarini after his 
victory at Chioggia in 1379. 

The ceiling of this hall contains several works worthy 
of notice, out of which I select for notice only the three 
largest : — 

The oval nearest the Paradise is by Paolo Veronese ; it 
represents "^Venice enthroned as Queen of the Sea, amid 
fancied architecture of a decadent style, with ugly and useless 
twisted columns ; the loggia contains several good portraits 
of voluptuous women. 

The "^cetitral square is by Tintoretto, and is another of the 
later type of pictures in which the Doge is represented as 
doing homage, not to a divine or sainted personage, but to 
an allegorical and secular personification. In this case it is 
Doge Nicolo da Ponte, who offers the homage of the nobles 
and the subject cities to an embodied Venice. The back- 
ground consists of a view of St. Mark's. Below are grouped 
the various arts, handicrafts, and commercial avocations of 
the town and territory. 

The oval furthest from the Paradise is by Palma the 
younger : it represents, again, Venice enthroned and crowned 
by Victory. 

A door near the last picture leads to the 

Sala dello Scrutinio, 
where the votes were counted for the election of the Doge. 



VII.] THE DOGE'S PALACE 193 

A window to the R. in the anterootn here affords a good out- 
look over the Renaissance portion of the building. 

The Sala dello Scrutinio itself is another handsome hall, 
with a fine ceiling, and from its windows impressive views 
are obtained, especially from the one on the L. with the 
balcony, which affords an excellent survey of the Piazza and 
Piazzetta, — in particular of the facade of Sansovino's Library 
and of the very quaint and ornate chimney on the top of 
the Zecca. This is also one of the best points of view for 
the lion of St. Mark and for St. Theodore on his croco- 
dile. The richness in colour of the South Front of St. 
Mark's comes out well in the sunlight from this stand- 
point. 

Re-enter the hall. The entrance wall is entirely occupied 
by Palm a Gio vane's Last Judgment, a work in which Palma 
unequally endeavours to imitate Tintoretto's Paradise ; to 
the L. are the elect, to the R. the damned. 

The other walls are occupied by late historical or pseudo- 
historical pictures, again representing episodes in the history 
of Venice reflecting credit on the Republic. They begin at 
the far side ot this room, the end wall of which is wholly 
occupied by the triumphal arch and monument of Francesco 
Morosini, who reconquered the Morea from the Turks in 
1690 ; it was erected in his honour during his lifetime by the 
senate, as the inscription on the ugly half-length bronze 
figure below testifies. (Hence his title of Peloponnesiacus.) 
Of the pictures which the monument contains, (all by 
Lazzarini,) the only one worthy of notice is that on the L. 
below, which represents the Doge in his ducal costume and 
armour, holding a marshal's biton, and presenting to Venice 
the reconquered Christian Morea, whose chains he is striking 
off ; they lie at her feet, together with the Turkish turban 
and the map of the Morea which symbolise his conquest ; 
Venice herself is somewhat uncomfortably enthroned on St. 
Mark's lion. This is a fair example of the overwrought later 
allegorical treatment of similar subjects. 

The pictures on the wall on the Piazzetta side are as 
follows : — 

G. V. N 



194 ^^^ DOGE'S PALACE [vii 

(i.) Pepin, king of the Franks, lays siege to the town of 
Rivo Alto in 809, by Vicentino. 

(2.) Pepin, and therefore the Frankish empire, driven 
away from Venice, also by Vicentino. 

(3.) Domenico Michiel defeats the Caliph of Egypt in a 
naval engagement at Jaffa, in 11 23, by Peranda. 

(4.) Domenico Michiel takes Tyre in 1125. (This is the 
victory of which the columns in the Piazzetta are trophies.) 
I need hardly add that in all these cases the later Venetians 
figure their ancestors with their own costumes and their own 
weapons of warfare. 

(5.) The victory of the Venetians over King Roger of Sicily 
in 1 148, by Marco VecelH. 

The series continues just opposite : — 

(7.) Capture of Zara from the Hungarians in 1346, by Tin- 
toretto. 

(8.) The victory of Lepanto in 1571, by Vicentino. 

(9.) The battle against the Turks in the Dardanelles in 
1656, by Pietro Liberi. 

The compartments of the ceiling contain similar pictures 
of real or supposed glories of Venice, but of little interest. 

Return through the Sala del Maggior Consiglio to the 
portal by which you first entered that large hall : a door on 
the R. gives access to the 

Library, 

a magnificent collection of books and manuscripts, the 
description of which, however, lies outside the province of 
this Guide, One of its chief treasures is the famous Grimani 
Breviary, with exquisite illuminations by Gerard David, 
Horenbout, and other Flemish masters of the late 15th 
century, (exhibited on Wednesdays only, in an inadequate 
and unsatisfactory manner.) Students of art may obtain 
special leave to consult it. 
The door to the L. leads into the 

Archaeological Museum, 

which contains several second-class works of classic art, and 
a few masterpieces. 



VII.] THE DOGE'S PALACE I95 

Room I. — Corridor. Figures of deities, marked on the 
pedestals, and few of them of any exceptional interest. 
Colossal Minerva. Bacchus. Faun and Fauness. Bust of 
Juno, etc. 

Room II. — State Dressing Room of the Doge, has a very- 
charming early-Renaissance chimney-piece by P. Lombardo. 
Over the door of entry is a graceful relief of Doge Leonardo 
Loredan adoring the Madonna and Child, accompanied by 
St. Mark, St. Nicholas, and another doubtful saint. Over 
the opposite door is a pretty coloured group of a Madonna 
with angels. Round the walls are three successive paint- 
ings of the Lion of St. Mark, by Jacopo del Fiore, 141 5, 
Donate Veneziano, 1459, and Carpaccio, 15 16. The 
■^coffered ceiling of this beautiful little room is deserving 
of notice. 

Room III. — {dello Scudo) contains ancient maps^ the 
earliest of which is that by Fra Mauro, (1457,) in a round 
frame, near the centre of the room ; it has the south at the 
top of the map, instead of at the bottom as usual. Interesting 
and curious. From the L. window of this room you get an 
excellent view of the domes of St. Mark's, and the connect- 
ing portion between the church and palace. Nowhere else 
can you so well observe the oriental shape of the minor 
cupolas surmounting the domes. 

Continue along the same line as before into 

Room IV., Hall of the Busts. — This has an over-decorated 
Renaissance mantelpiece^ and a fine ceilittg. It contains 
numerous busts of the imperial Roman period, some named, 
and some of them excellent, mainly the gifts of Cardinal 
Grimani. On the wall of entrance, high up, is a good 
Antinous ; among the other busts, notice Septimius Severus, 
Faustina, Lucius Verus, two stages of Marcus Aurelius, 
Vitellius with his coarse bull-neck and vulgar sordid features, 
the solid common-sense of Vespasian, and the capable figure 
of Trajan. (Chronologically, the series begins at the far 
end.) 

Room V. of the Bro7tzes, with a fine ceiling and a good 
early-Renaissance mantelpiece, topped by ugly later figures, 



196 THE DOGE'S PALACE [vil. 

contains a few antique bronzes ; round the walls are Greek 
pottery and other works of minor interest. 

Room VI. has nothing of note but an Adoration of the 
Magi, by Bonifazio. 

The long room beyond this gives access, on the R., to a 
staircase with a fresco of St. Christopher, by Titian, (ill pre- 
served,) the interest of which is mainly historical. 

The Rooi7i of Bronzes^ beyond, contains several admirable 
works of the Renaissance. L. of the door, three busts by 
Aspetti, named. On a fine bronze candelabrum, the Doge's 
cap of Doge Paolo Venier. In a case by the wall, exquisite 
medals by Pisanello and others. Above, fine bas-reliefs in 
bronze, by Riccio, with the history of the Emperor Constan- 
tine, — his Vision of the Cross, his victory over Maxentius, 
the discovery of the True Cross by Helena, and the Miracle 
of the True Cross, the genuineness of which is proved by its 
cure of a sick man. In the centre, between these, Florentine 
Assumption of the Virgin. In the middle of the room, 
bronzes and medals. On the R. wall^ beautiful bronze doors 
for a tabernacle, containing a relic, with a Pietk and Deposi- 
tion, by Riccio. Tomb in imitation of the antique, by TuHio 
Lombardo, a fine reproduction of the Roman spirit. Charm- 
ing relief of St. Martin dividing his cloak with the beggar 
by Riccio. In the cases, coins and medals of Venice. Many 
of the other works in this room deserve close attention, but 
cannot here be adequately described. This is a collection 
for the leisured. 

Room of the lesser Antiques. — Minor works of antique 
sculpture : a Venus of the same type as the Capitoline at 
Rome ; Ganymede carried away by the eagle ; Leda and 
the Swan ; an Apollo Cithargedus, and other figures. By 
the far wall stand three of the most important antique works 
in this collection, — three ^fallen and dying Gauls, of the 
school of Pergamum, reduced copies (or originals) of sculp- 
tures belonging to the same series as the famous (so-called) 
Dying Gladiator of the Capitol at Rome. These are very 
characteristic specimens of the local Pergamene school, 
which represented the combat of the Greeks with the 
invading Gauls. 



VII.] THE DOGE'S PALACE 197 

Room of the larger Antiques, — Other antique figures, 
among the most interesting of which is a somewhat inferior 
archaic Diana, resembhng the one at Naples, but not of 
equal merit. This figure belongs to the stage when Greek 
sculpture was just emancipating itself from its earliest 
stiffness. 

Your tickets also entitle you to visit the Dungeons. I am 
not aware of any sufficient reason why you should desire to 
avail yourself of this permission. 



VIII 

THE GRAND CANAL 

r*' I ^HE Grand Canal, (or Canalazzo) the street of the 
[_ JL nobles, is originally one of the many navigable 
channels by whose aid the waters of the tortuous rivers 
which have formed the lagoon find their way through the 
mud-banks, past the mouths of the Lido, to the open sea. 
It is the original rivo alto, or deep stream, which created 
Venice, and up which the commerce of all countries was 
able to reach the city in the days of her splendour. A 
Panoraina, published by Ongania in the Piazza (i franc) is 
an excellent guide. You will doubtless ascend the Canal 
many times before you come to examine it in detail in this 
order ; but two afternoons at least should be given to ex- 
ploring its banks in the following manner.] 

Begin by ascending the Canal on the Left Bank. Make 
your gondolier keep to the left side till you reach the railway 
station. 

The long low building which flanks the exact end of the 
Canal, looking seaward, is the Dogana di Mare, erected in 
1676 by Benoni ; a futile work of the later Renaissance, 
unpicturesque in itself, though rendered to some extent a 
pleasing object by its imposing position. Two Atlases on 
the summit bear a gilded globe, surmounted by a bronze 
Fortuna, which serves as a vane, its sail turning with every 
change of the wind. The low building in line with and 
beyond this, again, consists of the warehouses and sheds of 
the Dogana. 

198 



VIII.] THE GRAND CANAL 199 

A little recessed stands the Seminario Patriarcale^ (once 
a monastery,) an uninteresting building of the later Renais- 
sance, by Longhena, 1672. 

Santa Maria della Salute, already noticed. 

Pass the mouth of a canal, the Rio della Salute. The 
beautiful brick apse^ a short way down this Rio, on the R., 
is that of the secularised church of San Qregorio, with 
narrow and slender 14th-century Gothic windows, extremely 
charming. The buildings connected with it at the corner 
of the canal belong to the secularised monastery of San 
Gregorio, of which this church was the oratory : they have 
two charming Gothic windows, and a beautiful square door- 
way, surmounted by a pleasing relief of St. Gregory, patron 
of the monastery. The court within (land at the steps and 
see it if you have not already done so) is perhaps the most 
picturesque little cortile in Venice. 

The large new palace which succeeds this, as you move 
westward, is the Palazzo Genovese^ erected in 1898, in 
imitation of the earlier Gothic buildings, of which, however, 
it is a somewhat stiff and formal copy. 

Pass a dry street. The first palace which you reach 
beyond this street is the Seviitecolo, with its beautiful early 
Gothic windows, having false cusps in the arches, so as to 
make the head a trefoil. Observe on this canal the gradual 
growth of the arch till it reaches the Doge's Palace type. 
Notice here, too, the beautiful balustrade of the balconies 
with the little lions, on the second floor ; these are original 
and belong to the period ; the balcony on the first floor 
shows the debased style of the 17th or i8th century. Keep 
an eye in future on the various types of balustrade to the 
balconies. Don't needlessly burden your memory with the 
names of the palaces : confine your attention to the archi- 
tectural features. 

Pass the mouth of a canal, the Rio della Fornace. The 
first house but one beyond it is the Palazzo Volkoff, in- 
habited by Duse, the famous actress ; its windows on the 
first floor are of an early Gothic type. The palace just after 
this, (slightly out of the perpendicular,) with many windows 



200 THE GRAND CANAL [vill. 

to the L. and few to the R., and numerous plaques of 
coloured marble inserted as adornments in the decorative 
work, is the Palazzo Dario, a building in the early Renais- 
sance style, and one of the most pleasing. 

Pass the mouth of a canal, Rio delle Toreselle. Wine 
vaults ; then, first floor only of the vast 18th-century 
Palazzo Venler, never completed, with great lions' heads 
on its base : it now contains a garden. 

Beyond this, two unimportant houses, then the Falco, a 
feeble late palace ; after it, the beautiful Gothic Palazzo 
da Mula; notice the softening of its angles ; it is in the 
style of the 14th century, middle Gothic, with a 17th-century 
balcony on the 2nd floor. 

Next comes the Barbarigo, 15th century, early Renais- 
sance, with very simple pillars ; but the whole front is now 
filled with very glaring mosaics of the Venice and Murano 
Glass Company. 

The little Carnpo which opens beyond this palace gives 
you a glimpse of the pretty small church of San Vio. 
Beyond it, mouth of a canal, Rio di San Vio. 

The uninteresting palace at the far corner of this canal, 
marked by posts {pali) surmounted by the fleur-de-lys, is 
the Loreda7t, of late inhabited by Don Carlos, the Spanish 
Pretender ; hence the Bourbon lilies. (These poles or 
stakes throughout Venice bear the heraldic colours of the 
inhabitants of the palace. They serve as boat-houses.) 
Then Balbi Valier, i8th century. 

After this, a very pretty garden, beyond which rises the 
Palazzo Manzoni^ a handsome, somewhat over- decorated 
building in the early Renaissance style, 15th century; note 
its frieze of eagles, the decorative work on its base, and 
the delicate balcony on the 2nd floor. This is a very 
characteristic and fine specimen of early Renaissance archi- 
tecture. 

After an uninteresting house, pass the mouth of the Rio 
della Caritk. 

Secularised church of the Carita, now used as part of 
the Academy. Steamboat station Accademia. Pass under 



VIII.] THE GRAND CANAL 201 

the iron bridge. Old building of the Scuola della Caritaj 
ornate modern fagade of the Academy, 

Pass the mouth of. a dry canal. Three uninteresting 
buildings, (the last with lions and old columns on its quay ;) 
then, a little in advance, Palazzo Contari7ii degli Scrigni^ a 
dull j6th-century pseudo-classical building by Scamozzi, 
with lions' heads and a huge human face staring out over 
the doorway. After it, (part of the same,) a beautiful Gothic 
palace, in the later 15th-century style, with the corners 
softened, and good string-courses ; a pretty balcony on the 
1st floor, later one above. Notice the intrusive marble 
decoration. 

Pass the mouth of a canal, Rio di San Trovaso. The 
view of this last palace round the corner in the canal is 
strikingly picturesque. Then conies an externally-painted 
Palazzo, with terra-cotta decorative work ; after it, the 
Palazzo delV Ambasciatore, (or Loredan,) a fine 15th-century 
Gothic building, (Doge's Palace style,) with Renaissance 
figures of two shield-bearing personages, perhaps St. George 
and St. Theodore. Observe the exaggerated finials (top 
ornaments of the arch) which mark the later (florid) Gothic, 
the softened corners, and the bad late balcony. 

Pass the mouth of a canal, Rio Malpaga. Beyond it, 
relics of a palace ; then a row of small palaces, unimpor- 
tant. 

Pass the mouth of the Rio San Barnaba. The huge and 
lofty building beyond this, with more or less Doric, Ionic, 
and Corinthian columns in its three floors, is the Rezzonico, 
formerly inhabited by Robert Browning, the poet ; it is an 
over-decorated square mass, by Longhena, architect of the 
Salute, imposing from its mere size, but otherwise unin- 
teresting. 

The next two palaces are late and feeble. Beyond them, 
by the bend of the stream, comes a famous group, much 
painted by modern artists, the first two of the set being the 
palaces of the QiustinianI family, and the third, a little 
taller, that of the Foscari. All of these are buildings in the 
style of the Doge's Palace, the Giustiniani having bad late 



202 THE GRAND CANAL [VIII. 

balconies ; the Foscari has much more beautiful railings, 
and its arches are in some case simpler ; its coats of arms 
are held by ugly (late) angels. 

Pass the mouth of the Rio Foscari. At the corner, a 
beautiful old lamp. Then, Guggenheim's furniture shop, of 
the 17th century. 

Beyond the next small canal rises a dull 16th-century 
Renaissance palace. 

Steamboat station San Tomk. 

Pass the Rio San TomL This is followed by two or three 
uninteresting palaces, the next which deserves note being 
one with four balconies, having pretty balustrades of a con- 
temporary type, and crowned by lions ; the recessed cusps 
of these arches are purely ornamental. 

Beyond, the Palazzo Dona, recognisable by the painted 
cherubs on its second floor. Next, the Palazzo Pisani, 
Gothic style of the Doge's Palace, 15th century, but its 
second floor has a rather original arcade, and its cornice 
and parapet deserve notice : the balconies have been 
modernised. 

Jesurum's work-rooms. Pass the mouth of the Rio San 
Polo. The red palace just beyond this is the Cappello, long 
inhabited by Sir A. H. Layard. Next to it, the Vetidramin^ 
early 16th-century Renaissance, with decorative marble in- 
sertions. After this, Quirini, 17th century; a gate, and 
then the Palazzo Bernardo, 15th century, style of the Doge's 
Palace, with softened angles and square balustrades to the 
main balcony. 

Pass the little Rio della Madonetta and one dull house ; 
then the lovely little *Paiazzo Dona, the first floor of which 
{above the mezzanino) is one of the most beautiful speci- 
mens left of 12th-century Byzantine-Romanesque work, with 
stilted arches {i.e. not springing at once from their base, but 
raised on straight supports) surrounded by most delicate 
ornamentation ; above are plaques with animal symbolism. 

Next to the Dona, but separated by a little pergola, is 
the Palazzo Saibante, a more regular 12th-century Roman- 
esque building, retaining only one beautiful arcade, with 



VIII.] THE GRAND CANAL 203 

stilted arches and exquisite Byzantine capitals, above which 
are animal symbolism, and a delicate string-course of orna- 
ment. 

Garden, with house recessed ; then, the Palazzo Tiepolo^ 
a dull 16th-century building, by Sansovino, crowned by two 
meaningless obelisks. 

Pass the Rio dei Meloni. Palazzo Businello, Byzantine- 
Romanesque, with two charming arcades of stilted arches ; 
the balcony is unfortunately modern. After this, a project- 
ing house, and then another ruined palace, with fragments 
of a beautiful Romanesque arcade in two stories, having a 
Gothic window inserted ; the capitals of these columns are 
worth notice. 

Beyond this, a garden, and several uninteresting houses, 
behind which is seen the tower of San Silvestro. 

Nothing more of interest till we reach the Ponte di 
Rialto, erected in 1592 by Antonio da Ponte, in place of 
an older wooden one. In itself merely a bridge of a bad 
period, this work is strikingly picturesque in virtue of its 
single high span, its parapet and balustrade, and the arcaded 
row of shops which occupy part of its central portion. The 
bridge has, on the face by which we approach it, an An- 
nunciation, an extreme instance of the separation of Our 
Lady from the Announcing Angel. Gabriel is in the span- 
dril to the L., Our Lady in that to the R. ; the keystone is 
formed by the dove flying towards the Madonna. The feast 
of the Annunciation is the testa of Venice. 

Pass under the bridge. Beyond it. Palace of the Camer- 
lenghi, or Chaniberlains, (Treasury of the Republic,) a 
heavy but handsome Renaissance work by Bergamasco, 
early i6tli century, picturesque at certain angles, owing to 
the irregularity of the area on which it stands. 

Then, somewhat recessed, the Old Buildings of the 
Rialto, (in front of which is the Herb Market^ followed by 
the projecting New Buildings, once Sansovino's, but so 
much renewed as to be practically almost modern. 

Beyond this long line of buildings we come to the Fish 
Market^ often unpleasant to the sense of smell, but pic- 



204 THE GRAND CANAL [vill. 

turesque by virtue of its quaint fishing craft, and odd live- 
fish baskets. 

Pass the mouth of the Rio della Pescaria. In the back- 
ground the tower of Sant' Aponal. The next building of 
interest is the Palazzo Morosini^ with softened corners, a 
fine 14th-century Gothic building, in the Doge's Palace 
style. The house next but one to it, though uninteresting 
in itself, has beautiful old balconies and other relics of past 
splendour. 

Pass the mouth of a canal, the Rio di San Cassan. 
Then, comes a little "^Palazzo of early Gothic architecture, 
wiihout cusps to its arches, showing a transitional form 
between Venetian Romanesque and Venetian Gothic. 
After it, the huge Palazzo Corner de!!a Regliia, (now the 
Monte di Pieta,) a late building of 1724. It occupies the 
site of a palace belonging to Queen Catharine of Cyprus. 

Pass the mouth of a canal, the Rio Ca' Pesaro. Just 
beyond it, with a fine corner view, the gigantic Palazzo 
Pesaro, built by Longhena, architect of the Salute, in 
1679 ; though overloaded with ornament, as is all Lon- 
ghena's work, this huge mansion has a certain imposing 
stateliness by virtue of its mere size and of the enormous 
bosses of faceted stone which form its lower floor. Good 
views round its corners. 

Pass another small canal, and then, just beyond it, comes 
the tawdry baroque fagade of the church of St. Eisstacchio, 
commonly known in Venetian as San Stae, erected in 1709. 
Next to it is the small ^Palazzo Priitli^ with a lovely 
first-floor arcade, early Gothic, having a somewhat oriental 
curve in the arch, derived by early Venetian Gothic from 
Alexandria or Cairo. The capitals of the columns arc 
characteristic of the period. It has also a dainty little 
balcony, with graceful slender columns. 

Beyond this, a garden ; then, a small palace with an 
arcade on the first floor, slightly resembling the last, but 
with cusps to the arches. These various stages in the 
evolution of Venetian Gothic should be carefully noted and 
allowed to fall into their proper order. 



VIII.] THE GRAND CANAL 205 

Pass the mouth of a canal, Rio di Ca' Tron : then, 
another of Longhena's 17th-century fronts, encumbered 
with coats of arms, twisted into an ugly wriggling pattern. 
The long building next to this, with curious battlements, 
is the ancient Granary of the Republic^ still bearing a few 
coats of arms. 

Pass the mouth of a canal, Rio dei Megio. Next to this 
is the water-front of the very early Byzantine and Roman- 
esque palace now known as the *Fondaco de' Turchi, 
a name which, however, it did not acquire until the 17th 
century, when it was let out to the Turkish merchants in 
Venice. This magnificent 12th-century palace, though 
recently so much restored as to have lost all air of antiquity 
and the greater part of its early interest, is still in a certain 
symbolical way representative of the splendid homes of 
the Byzantine period to which belongs the basilica of 
St. Mark's, and of which this is, among palaces, the only 
surviving example all in the one style. Its modernised 
arches, capitals, shafts, bases, parapets, and decorative 
plaques, are all typical, if not original, and it presents us 
with a good picture of what the Grand Canal must have 
looked like in many of its parts before the Gothic and 
Renaissance invasion. Study its front carefully. 

You may land here, in passing, to visit the interesting 
objects exposed under ih^ front arcade^ the building being 
now appropriated as the Correr Museum (Museo Civico). 
Begin to the R. Quaint relief of St. Martin dividing his 
cloak with the beggar, dated 1478. Beyond the door, good 
decorative reliefs and inscriptions. Over the ruined tomb, 
an Archangel, with his hand raised in an attitude of bless- 
ing. Beyond the next door, ancient sarcophagi ; over them, 
relief of Our Lady and Child, flanked by St. Mary Magda- 
len as penitent, (dressed only in her flowing hair,) and St. 
Sebastian. Beyond these, St. John the Baptist and St. 
Mark the evangelist ; below, two beautiful adoring angels ; 
in the lunette above the Eternal Father and angels. The 
Madonna della Misericordia, bearing the infant Christ as 
a brooch on her bosom, and sheltering under her robe 



206 THE GRAND CANAL [vill. 

the Fraternity of Crociferi, very similar to the treatment 
in certain pictures in the Academy. Beyond this, Our Lady 
without the Child, worshipped by a Doge and Senators. 
\fter the large central door, another Madonna della Miseri- 
cordia, sheltering votaries under her robe. Near this, 
several interesting inscriptions and sarcophagi. The 
Interior of the Museum is best visited, if at all, on 
another occasion ; I do not however advise you to inspect 
it unless your time at Venice is tolerably unlimited. 

Continuing your inspection of the L. bank of the canal. 
Steamboat station, Museo Civico. After this, for some 
distance there are few objects of interest till you reach 
the little Palazzo Giovanelli^ with a good balcony and 
Gothic arches of the middle period. Pass the mouth of a 
dry canal ; then a garden. The only objects of interest 
further on along this bank are the church of San Simeone 
Grande (a little back) and the ugly domed church of San 
Simeone Piccolo, built in 17 18. 

Turn at the Railway Station and begin the examina- 
tion of the Right Bank. 

The ugly baroque front of the church of the Scalzi 
adjoins the station ; it is an overloaded building of the 
17th century. The great monastery of Barefooted Carme- 
lites to which it once belonged has left no remains visible. 
Steamboat station Ferrovia. After this, several uninterest- 
ing buildings. 

The tall narrow Palazzo which is the first to arrest our 
attention as we glide homeward is the Flangiiii^ an over- 
decorated building of the 1 7th century, less debased, how- 
ever, than most work of its period. Then comes the marble 
transept of 5an Qeremia, with the dome behind it, — a 
church built in 1753; it has a good campanile a little in 
the background. 

Steamboat station San Geremia. 

The palace beyond, with the conspicuous eagles, is the 
Palazzo Labia, by Longhena. 

Pass the mouth of the Cannaregio, a broad canal, down 
which the steamboats go to Mestre ; in the background, 



VIII.] THE GRAND CANAL 207 

beyond the bridge, to the R., are the tall houses of the 
Old Ghetto. 

After some uninteresting buildings comes a Renaissance 
palace, probably altered from Gothic, as it has its corners 
softened. Then a little garden. 

Ugly brick front, unfinished, of the church of San Mar- 
cuola (properly St. Hermagoras and Fortunatus : note all 
these dedications : they cast light on the saints in the 
arcades of St. Mark's). Beyond it, a Gothic palace of the 
early type, with slight cusps to the arches. 

Pass the mouth of the Rio dei Servi : then, a garden. 
Beyond it, with blue posts, the gigantic Palazzo Vendramin=» 
Calergi, commonly known as the Palazzo Non nobis, from 
the inscription on its ground floor (Non nobis, Domine, 
non nobis — not unto us, O Lord, etc.). This is a cold 
but stately Renaissance palace in the style of the Lombardi, 
(148 1,) with good eagles on its frieze, and relieved by 
inserted decorative marbles : the balustrades apparently 
come from an earlier building. (Wagner the composer 
lived and died here.) Beyond it, one of its wings with a 
garden in front of it. Observe the chimneys, which here 
and elsewhere in Venice are very curious. 

The next Gothic palace (Erizzo) is of the Doge's Palace 
type, with a late balcony spoihng its windows. Just beyond 
it, a tasteful Renaissance building. 

Here the canal makes an angle at the entrance to the 
Rio della Maddalena. Immediately after the bend, on the 
front of a Renaissance building with the remains of frescoes, 
is a Madonna della Misericordia sheltering votaries. This 
is succeeded by several uninteresting late houses. 

Pass the mouth of the Rio di Noale. There is nothing 
in particular to notice here till you reach the Rio di San 
Felice, just beyond which rises the Palazzo Fo?itana, built 
by Sansovino, and easily recognised by the two meaning- 
less obelisks on its roof. Almost next to this, after the 
Children's School, is the Coletti oi the i8th century, recog- 
nised by its busts on the upper floor and the statues on 
the ground floor. Adjacent to it is one of the most pictur- 



208 THE GRAND CANAL [VIII. 

esque and certainly one of the most popularly pleasing of 
the palaces, the "^Ca d'Oro, a very ornate building of the 
Doge's Palace type, (15th century,) with some graceful 
traceries ; its string-courses, cornice, and parapet are all 
worthy of notice ; its angles are softened by three twisted 
columns where one is more usual. The fagade is the work 
of the Buon family, who built the Piazzetta front of the 
Doge's Palace. Though somewhat meretricious in its 
splendour for a Gothic building, it is undeniably very pretty 
and has original features : the balconies have slender 
and graceful balustrades. It was once gilded : hence its 
name. 

Steamboat station Ck d'Oro. 

The next palace but one, after the little garden, is the 
Sagredo, 14th century, in an early and somewhat simpler 
style ; its lower arcade being almost transitional between 
Byzantine-Romanesque and Gothic, while its upper arcade 
partakes of the Doge's Palace type. 

Pass a broad open space. Just beyond it is the pretty 
little Palazzo Foscari^ with middle Gothic arcades, and a 
Madonna and Child on its second story. Notice in this 
and many other cases the shafts of the columns. 

Next door but one is the Palazzo Michiel dalle Colonne^ 
a large but uninteresting 17th-century palace, with an open 
arcade on its ground floor, and half-length figures in the 
middle pediments. 

The Gothic palace a little beyond this, with dark blue 
posts, has simple cusped arches, with bad capitals to the 
columns, and late balconies ; it has been largely modernised 
in the 17th century. 

Pass the mouth of the Rio dei SS. Apostoli, down which 
is visible the tower of the church of the same name. Just 
beyond it stands the extremely interesting ^Palazzo da 
Mosto, a Byzantine palace, more or less ruinous, with large 
round arches on its ground floor, and a good round-arched 
arcade on its first floor. The summits of these last arches, 
however, simulate and prefigure the Gothic type by being 
apparently pointed, though when you look close you see 



VIII. J THE GRAND CANAL 209 

that the real arch is itself circular. Above are fine dc' 
corative plaques, richly wrought with animal symbolism, 
and a figure of Christ blessing. What remains of this once 
beautiful half-transitional palace is thus Byzantine in under- 
lying reality, but apparently Gothic in external form. One 
sees oriental influence. 

Next to it comes a simple, tolerably early Gothic Palace. 

Pass the mouth of the Rio di San Crisostomo, near which 
in the background you catch a glimpse in passing ot a few 
exquisite windows belonging to a transitional early-Gothic 
palace ; these windows show well the first form of the 
Venetian Gothic, just altered from the Byzantine. 

The only other building of interest before we reach the 
Rialto Bridge is the large dull block close to it, with five 
open arches on its ground floor, and a curious parapet on 
top ; this is the Fondaco de' Tedeschi, or Guild of the 
German Merchants in Venice : heavy i6th century. An 
earlier Teutonic guild-hall existed here from the 13th 
century : a relic of the commercial importance of Venice, 
which imported oriental goods and passed them on to 
Germany. The quarter about the bridge, specially known 
as Riaito, was the business district^ like "the City" in 
London. Here all the guilds of foreign merchants con- 
gregated. Get Shakspere out of your head : he was never 
in Venice. 

Pass under the Ponte di RiaSto. The figures on this 
front of the bridge as we approach it are, L., St. George (or 
Theodore ?) and R., St. Mark, the two chief patrons of the 
city. 

After passing the bridge we have on our L. the Riva del 
Carbon. Steamboat station Rialto, for passengers going E. 
The first important building beyond it is the Palazzo Manifiy 
the seat of the last unhappy Doge, (now the Banco d'ltalia,) 
a frigid and jejune building in the Renaissance style of the 
1 6th century, by Sansovino, which absurdly recalls the City 
of London. 

Steamboat station Carbon, for passengers going W. 

The lar^^e and handsome Gothic palace behind it is the 

G. V. O 



210 THE GRAND CANAL [vill. 

* Palazzo BembOy a good specimen of the 14th-century 
pointed style, with the arches scarcely cusped, if at all, 
though the finials are already rather heavy ; it has good 
columns and softened angles, but is ruined by an ugly late 
balustrade added to its balconies. 

Beyond the red houses which follow comes a dainty little 
^Gothic palace, said to be all that remains of the home of 
the great doge Enrico Dandolo, the conqueror of Constan- 
tinople. It is, however, of rather ornate architecture, later 
than his age, with earher animal symbohsm still untouched 
in its upper floor ; the arcades are curious, and differ from 
those of any other palace. 

After a few dull houses, we arrive at the magnificent 
**Pa!a2Z0 Loredan, perhaps the most beautiful of all the 
houses on the Grand Canal. It is a splendid example of 
a Byzantine-Romanesque Venetian palace, with a distinct 
tinge of oriental feeling ; the capitals of some of its columns 
are exquisitely beautiful, especially the double pair to the R. 
and L. of the main balcony, (which is later, and ruins the 
effect.) The arcades and ornaments of this glorious house 
should be closely studied. Above stand figures of two men- 
at-arms at the extreme end, whose inscriptions are illegible 
to me, though I believe them to be St. Vitus and St. George. 
The central figures, under later (added) Gothic canopies 
(with angels in the finials) are, L., Justice with her sword 
and scales, and, R., Venice seated between her lions, and 
holding the column of St. Mark surmounted by the winged 
lion. I advise you to study this exquisite fagade well, and 
to recur to it every time you pass it. It is almost pure 
Moorish-Byzantine, with very little Gothic alteration. : 

Next to it is the "^Palazzo Farseiti^ also Romanesque and 
of the 1 2th century, but in a simpler style and much less 
decorated. This building, indeed, is rather pure Roman- 
esque than Byzantine, and shows absolutely no oriental 
influence. Its lower arcade is graceful and dignified ; the 
capitals of the columns in the upper arcade deserve atten- 
tion. The two buildings together are now used as the 
Municipality of the City of Venice, and their posts there- 



VIII.] THE GRAND CANAL 211 

fore bear the lion of St. Mark, in gold, on a dark blue 
ground. 

Beyond this comes a pretty little Renaissance palace, con- 
verted from Gothic, and with two Gothic windows still 
visible round the corner ; it flanks the Fondamenta in pic- 
turesque fashion. After a small early Renaissance palace 
with decorative plaques, comes the huge Palazzo Qrimani, 
built by Sammicheli in the i6th century, and now used as 
the Court of Appeal ; though destitute of real beauty, it is 
imposing from its mere size and its fine approach, and is 
comparatively free from overloaded ornament. 

Beyond it, pass the mouth of the Rio di San Luca, at the 
corner of which stands the Palazzo Cavalli^ one of the most 
ornate palaces of the Doge's Palace type ; it bears on a 
mantle the crest of its owner, a horse, an arinoirie parhuiie 
or rebus revealing the name of its owners. The next Gothic 
palace is the Tron, with curious capitals to its first-floor 
windows, bearing heads in the centre. 

Foi some time after this we see nothing but uninteresting 
late palaces, — mere town houses of the bad age, — until we 
pass the mouth of the Rio di Ck Michiel and that of the 
Rio deir Albero, just beyond the last of which rises the 
large Palazzo Corner=SplnelIi, in the style of the Lom- 
bardi, with a handsome staircase, and the usual Renaissance 
decoration of coloured inserted marbles. 

Steamboat station Sant' Angelo. 

Pass the mouth of the Rio Sant' Angelo. Just beyond it, 
Palazzo Garzoiii^ 14th-century Gothic, with simple windows, 
showing very slight cusps ; the balcony is modern. This is 
succeeded by a suite of palaces of the Mocenigo family, of 
uninteresting late Renaissance architecture, whose only 
claim to notice is that Byron once inhabited one of them ; 
the lion's head is conspicuous on them all. Beyond these, 
very dull Renaissance palaces, the best of which is the 
Contarini dalle Figure^ by the Lombardi, so called from the 
busts with which it is adorned. Then, at the bend of the 
canal, the pretty little Gothic Palazzo Lezze^ spoiled by its 
ugly balconies. The one next to it has simple Gothic 
windows. 



212 THE GRAND CANAL [vill. 

The next bend brings us abreast with the immense mass 
of the rSth-century Palazzo Moro-Lin, noticeable for its 
large open arcade on the ground floor, but looking otherwise 
very much like an eligible and commodious modern ware- 
house. 

Beyond it, with an extremely white fagade, and shields 
blazoned above the lateral doorways, towers the huge 
Palazzo Grassi^ also of the i8th century, and greatly re- 
sembling a prosperous club in Pall Mall. Just after passing 
this we open out the little Campo San Samuele, with the 
picturesque church and campanile of the same name. The 
Campo is flanked by buildings with Gothic windows. The 
corner Palazzo beyond it is of the 17th century ; next to it 
a garden, prettily balustraded. After this, the base of the 
houses is formed by the colossal substructures of a vast 
palace begun for the Duke of Milan in the 15th century, 
{Ca del Duca^ but ordered to be discontinued by command 
of the signory ; the only part of the palace now largely 
visible is the corner near the mouth of the little Rio del 
Duca. 

Pass this Rio. Beyond it we reach the Palazzo Falter^ 
with a pretty arcade of the 15th century. Then comes the 
Giustiniani-Lolin^ another of Longtiena's monotonous build- 
ings, much less decorated, however, than was his wont. 

Skirt the Campo San Vitale, with the church and cam- 
panile of San Vidal in the background. Pass under the 
Iron Bridge. The large and well-kept palace which rises 
beyond it is the Palazzo Cavalli. now occupied by Baron 
Franchetti, a wealthy Murano glass-blower; it is in the 
Doge's Palace style, with softened angles, good balustrades, 
and an arcade on the first floor suggesting the transition 
from the windows of the Frari (see later) to the Doge's 
Palace type. 

Pass the mouth of the Rio dell' Orso. Just after it, 
Palazzo Barbaro, with some good early- Gothic windows on 
its second floor ; most of the balconies are modernised ; 
rich coloured-marble insertions. Beyond this come several 
uninteresting late buildings. 



VIII.] THE GRAND CANAL 213 

Pass the mouth of the Rio del Santissimo. More unin- 
teresting late buildings. Beyond them, a garden, after 
which we reach the huge Palazzo Corner della Ca Grande^ 
a stately but dull building by Sansovino, in the later Re- 
naissance style. 

Pass the Rio di San Maurizio ; at its corner, a little Gothic 
palace. 

Steamboat station Santa Maria del Giglio ; behind it a 
Gothic palace, almost entirely altered into Renaissance in 
its lov/er portion. 

Pass the end of a canal now built over, and commanding 
the front of Santa Maria Zobenigo. Beyond it, Palazzo 
Gritti, 14th-century Gothic, with simple arches below, and 
those above somewhat Saracenic in form ; it is now part of 
the Grand Hotel. 

Pass the mouth of the Rio delle Ostreghe. Beyond it, 
Palazzo Fini^ Renaissance, also forming part of the 
Grand Hotel. Then Manolesso Ferro, 14th-century Gothic, 
largely altered into Renaissance, with bad balconies ; like- 
wise swallowed up by the devouring maw of the Grand 
Hotel. 

Just after this, at a somewhat lower level, we perceive the 
very singular front of the little ^Palazzo Contarini=Fasan, 
religiously described by the gondoliers as " Desdemona's 
Palace," whatever that may mean. It has extremely ornate 
arches, with large finials, and a somewhat Saracenic curve ; 
its balconies are unique, the parapet being composed of a 
singular wheel ornament, not without a certain meretricious 
beauty ; its cornice is noteworthy. This dainty little house 
is perhaps the most popular favourite, after the Ca d'Oro, 
on the whole line of the Grand Canal ; but it is over- 
decorated, though in many ways admirable. The lower 
Palazzo next to it has good balconies and typical middle- 
Gothic windows. 

Beyond this, we pass several uninteresting houses; then 
the Palazzo Tiepolo, now the Hotel Britannia. The rest of 
this part of the Canal is mainly occupied by hotels, few of 
which have any artistic pretensions. The Hotel de I'Europe, 



214 THE GRAND CaNAL [vili. 

however, occupies the Palazzo Giustiniani^ a tolerable 
Gothic building of the 15th century. 

Beyond the Europa come the gardens of the Royal Palace, 
with the Procuratie Nuove in the background ; then the 
Zecca, already described, the lagoon front of the Libreria 
Vecchia, the Piazzetta, with the granite columns, and the 
Doge's Palace. At its far end we pass the Rio di Palazzo ; 
the building which succeeds it, and which is connected with 
the Palace by the Bridge of Sighs, being the Criminal 
Prison, built by Antonio da Ponte in 1589. A little further 
on comes the Hotel Daniele, formerly the Palazzo Dandolo, 
a good Gothic building in the Doge's Palace style. The 
Riva degli Schiavoni, which stretches from this point east- 
ward nearly to the Public Gardens, has comparatively few 
points of interest ; those which it has will be briefly de- 
scribed or alluded to elsewhere. 



One of the most notable facts about the palaces of the 
Grand Canal is the witness which they bear to the early 
civlHzation and peace of Venice. In northern Europe, 
the houses of mediseval nobles are dark and gloomy castles : 
even at Florence, the palaces of great families like the 
Strozzi and the Medici (now Riccardi) are, as late as the 15th 
century, built mainly for defence, with single heavy external 
doors or gates, no openings on the ground floor, and small 
grated windows alone on the entresol. But in commercial 
and oligarchical Venice, protected as she was by her moat 
of lagoon, and firmly ruled by her strong internal govern- 
ment, even the old Romanesque palaces, like the Fondaco 
del Turchi, the Loredan, and the Farsetti, are already open 
gentlemen's houses, " built for pleasure and for state," with 
free means of access, broad arcades, abundant light, and a 
general air of peace and security. The development of the 
later Venetian style, as seen in the Libreria Vecchia and the 
Procuratie, from this early open and airy type, is well worth 
noticing. In fact, the native Venetian ideal, traversing all 
styles, persists throughout, in spite of endless changes of 
architectural fashion. 



IX 

THE FRIARS' CHURCHES 

aN almost every great Italian town, there exist to this 
day two immense churches, usually dating back to 
the T3th century, and belonging respectively to the Domini^ 
cans and the Franciscans, the popular preaching orders of 
the middle ages. At Florence, these two churches are Santa 
Maria Novella and Santa Croce ; at Venice, they are SS. 
Giovanni e Paolo, and the Frari. 

The rise of the Friars marks the beginning of the great 
religious revival in mediaeval Europe, which dates from the 
first quarter of the 13th century. Filled with a fierce 
evangelising zeal, the followers of Dominic and Francis 
spread themselves everywhere, but especially in the crowded 
towns, where, like the early \Vesley.ins or the Salvation 
Army, they strove to address in particular the poorest and 
most outcast classes. Vowed to poverty themselves, they 
alleviated the poverty and sufferings of their downtrodden 
neighbours. As they preached above all to the many, they 
needed large churches, the services in which were at first 
enthusiastically attended. But in commercial Venice the 
world soon conquered. Both their great cathedral-like 
buildings became before long the favourite resting-places of 
the rich and mighty ; and the Friars' shrines are now visited 
by tourists chiefly for the sake of the sumptuous tombs of 
Doges and Senators v/hich they contain, or else for the 
lordly altar-pieces presented, half in devotion, half in self- 
glorification, by wealthy and noble families. Both orders 
had other and more strictly missionary churches in Venice, 



216 THE FRIARS' CHURCHES [ix. 

of which we have already seen one, the Franciscan San 
Giobbe ; the remainder may be visited, if time permits, at 
later stages of your exploration.] 

A. SS. GIOVANNI E PAOLO. 

[During St. Dominic's own lifetime, the Dominican Order 

which he founded sent out missionaries to all parts of 
Europe. Already in 1234 the Brothers possessed an oratory 
in Venice on the very site now occupied by their lordly 
church : but it was small and unobtrusive. In that year, 
however. Doge Giacomo Tiepolo, a friend of the order, 
dreamed that he saw this little preaching-hall of the Domin- 
icans with the ground all round it (now occupied by the 
church) covered with a celestial growth of roses, while white 
doves with golden crosses on their heads flitted among them. 
(Remember this dream ; it will help to explain a tomb at 
the door of the church.) Angels then descended from 
heaven with censers, and a voice from above exclaimed, 
" This is the place that I have chosen for my Preachers." 
(The official Dominican title is " Order of Preachers.") The 
Doge told his dream to the Senate, who decided that forty 
paces of ground should be given to enlarge the oratory ; and 
the Doge himself later increased the gift, on which account 
he is regarded as the pious founder. 

The church was begun in 1234, but not entirely finished 
and consecrated till 1430. It thus exemplifies several suc- 
cessive stages in the evolution of Venetian Gothic. It is de- 
dicated to Saints John and Paul, not the apostles, but the 
obscure Roman brothers, Christian soldiers said to have 
been martyred under Julian the Apostate. (See Mrs. 
Jameson.) The original Dominicans in Venice were emi- 
grants from the monastery of St. John and St. Paul at Rome, 
and they carried their local patrons with them. The true 
title of the church is thus Santi Giovanni e Paolo ; but the 
Venetians have a curious habit of rolling their saints into 
one, and generally speak of it as 5an Zanipolo. 

The dead bodies of the Doges lay in state in this church ; 
and most of them, after the date of its erection, were 



IX.] THE FRIARS' CHURCHES 217 

buried here. There was no more room by that time in St. 
Mark's for them. 

Bear in mind also that this is a Domiiiiican church, and 
expect to find Dominican saints and symbols. 

Above all, San Giovanni e Paolo is the church which most 
commemorates the heroic resistance of Venice to the 
Unspeakable Turk, Most of the great Christian com- 
manders who checked the disastrous progress of the Infidel 
in the Levant are buried here ; and the later Doges came 
yearly on the 7th of October to a solemn thanksgiving 
service for the great victory in the Dardanelles which saved 
Europe. It is likewise the chief church of the powerful 
Mocenigo, Morosini, Venier, and Vendramin families.] 



San Giovanni e Paolo may be approached either by gon- 
dola, or (better) on foot from the Piazza. If the latter, pass 
under the gilded Clock Tower and along the Merceria as 
far as the church of San Giuliatio. Turn here to the R. 
(Embedded in the wall of the house on your L. just before 
you reach the church is a small and good 15th-century relief 
of St. George and the Dragon, highly, perhaps too highly, 
praised by Mr. Ruskin.) Continue on to the back of the 
church, and proceed by the straight narrow street (Calle di 
Guerra) as far as the white church of Santa Maria Formosa. 
There, turn to the L., and cross the pretty little Campo 
obliquely into the Calle Lunga. Do ?2^/take the last turn to 
the L. before you reach the first bridge, (which the map will 
show you to be the shortest way to San Giovanni :) it is 
narrow and malodorous. Instead of that, continue along 
the Calle Lunga until you reach the first canal, (Rio di San 
Severo,) which follow, and cross two bridges in a straight 
line, until you come out at the atrocious baroque fagade of 
the Ospedaletto : " diseased figures and swollen fruit," 
Ruskin well calls its decorations. Here, the vast and lofty 
brick apse of 5an Giovanni e Paolo looms up picturesquely 
on the L. before you. This is the most imposing portion of 
the exterior of the building, striking in virtue of its immense 



2l8 THE FRIARS' CHURCHES [ix. 

height and the absence of buttresses ; and though recently 
restored, it is still very beautiful. Go round to the back 
and look at it ; the light brick material enables Venetian 
churches to raise these lofty unbuttressed apses, difficult to 
attain in solid stone. Then continue to the L. into the open 
Campo dl Sao Giovanni e Paolo* which contains the mag- 
nificent **equestrian statue of Bartolommeo CoIIeoni, 
and also the fine early Renaissance fagade of the 5cuola di 
San Marco. As I know I cannot induce you to enter the 
church till you have examined these, I may as well give way, 
seat you quietly on the steps of the bridge, and say here 
what there is to say about them. 

Bartolommeo Colleoni was a famous condottiere , or sHdier 
of fortune, in the service of Venice. On his death, in 1475, 
he left the whole of his immense fortune to the Republic, on 
condition that his statue should be erected in the Piazza San 
Marco (like Gattamelata's before the Santo at Padua). This 
being contrary to law, the senate trickily evaded the condi- 
tion by erecting it in the Campo of the Scuola di San Marco. 
The statue was first designed by Andrea Verrocchio, the 
Florentine painter and sculptor, and master of Leonardo da 
Vinci. Andrea died before it was completed, (after having 
once broken he model in a quarv'^l w"^b the signory,) md 
the task of finishing the work was given to the Venetian 
artist, Alessandro Leopardi^ (modeller of the fine bronze flag- 
staffs on the Piazza,) to whom the statue as it stands is mainly 
due. It was he also who designed the beautiful slender 
pedestal. With the possible exception of Donatello's 
Gattamelata, in front of the Santo at Padua, this is doubt- 
less the noblest equestrian statue in the world. Its effect is 
positively increased by the slimness and evident inadequacy 
of the graceful pedestal, which makes the rider look as 
though he were about to walk his horse unconsciously over 
a yawning precipice. The face and figure form a perfect 
em.bodiment of the ideal of an Italian soldier of fortune — 
erect, stern-featured, able, remorseless, with deep-set eyes, 
and haughty expression. Examine it on all sides. The 
rich detail lavished on the accessories heightens the effect of 



IX.] THE FRIARS' CHURCHES 219 

the stern simplicity shown in the horse and rider. There is 
no posturing. 

A Httle to the E. of the statue is a fine well-head, with 
amorini, of Renaissance workmanship. 

Now, sit down again near the bridge over the canal, and 
look up at the fagade of the Sciio!? di 5an Marco, erected 
in 1485 by Martino Lombardo, and forming an admirable 
specimen of the peculiar Venetian style of early Renaissance 
architecture introduced by the Lombardi. It should be com- 
pared with the extremely similar front of San Zaccaria, in 
order to form a general idea of their principles of decoration. 
The fagade is richly coated with coloured marble, and its 
sculptured subjects are those suited to its original object, 
that of the charitable Fraternity of St Mark. It is now 
used as a public hospital, (Ospedale Civile.) 

Topping the main lunette is a figure of the patron, St. 
Mark, with statues on either side, representing our now 
familiar friends, the Theological and Cardinal Virtues. 
Beneath stands the lion of St. Mark, with the Venetian 
motto. Over the main portal^ Charity carrying a child ; in 
the lunette of the portal, St. Mark enthroned, surrounded by 
the brethren of the Fraternity. On either side of the portal, 
lions in feigned perspective. On the ground floor to the R. 
are perspective reliefs of the miracles of the patron saint, in 
picture-like loggias ; L., he cures the cobbler Anianus ; R., 
he baptises at Alexandria ; in both cases, as usual, the 
pagans are figured as Mahommedan orientals. 

The fine early-Renaissance decorative work, which 
strikes the key-note of the Lombardi treatment, should be 
carefully examined throughout, both with the naked eye and 
with an opera -glass. 

This was one of the greatest among the Venetian Scuolej 
from it came several fine works at the Academy, relating to 
St. Mark— the glorious Paris Bordone of the Doge and the 
Fisherman, the Tintoretto of St. Mark and the Tortured Slave, 
as well as the Mansuetis in the apse of the suppressed church, 
and several other pictures duly noted in their own places. 
These once made it a treasure-house of art, like San Rocco. 



220 THE FRIARS' CHURCHES [ix. 

I do not advise a visit to the interior; but you may stand 
on the bridge, (decorated with ugly grotesque heads of the 
worst period,) in order to get a view of the side faqade to- 
wards the canal. / 

You may now proceed to the examination of San Oio= 
vanni e Paolo itself, with which of course the Scuola has 
nothing more than a topographical connection. 

The West Front, unfinished, in brick, is heavy and 
featureless, but has a fine late portal, Gothic in form though 
Renaissance in treatment. L. of the door stands the 
sarcophagus of the founder^ Doge Giacomo Tiepolo, and his 
brother, Doge Lorenzo Tiepolo, bearing a curious long Latin 
verse inscription, and a shorter one below, which states that 
"the Lord Giacomo died in 1251 ; the Lord Lorenzo in 
1275." At the sides are angels swinging censers ; above, 
between two ducal caps or berrettos, are doves crowned with 
crosses, both these as in the Doge's dream. R. of the door 
is the Angel of the Annunciation, good semi-classical work 
of the 7th century ; the Madonna corresponding to it is now 
missing. Further R., Daniel in the lions' den, of the 8th 
century, treated still in the simple old Roman fashion. 
Beneath are the plain sarcophagi of early Doges ; note the 
archaic simplicity of these for comparison with the ornate 
fiddle-faddle tombs of their successors in the interior.' 

The architecture of the south side, (best viewed from 
below the step of the Campo,) is vast and imposing, with 
its lofty dome, chapels, and transepts, but has little beauty. 
Those, however, who approach by water should walk along 
it and through the narrow street at the end, in order to view 
the splendid apse already noticed. The other side of the 
church is built in to the now secularised monastic buildings. 
Several early sarcophagi and fragments of sculpture (worth 
inspection) are embedded in the wall of the south side 
also. 

The interior is unimpressively striking by its colossal 
size, and the vastness of its parts, but has been much dis- 
figured by rococo additions. The lofty nave and aisles, 
however, are effective by virtue of their dignity and height. 



IX.] THE FRIARS' CHURCHES 221 

though they lack the crowded perspective of numerous rows 
of columns. The general plan is simple : — a Nave ; 
single Aisles (with large chapels built out on the S. side ;) 
short Transepts ; an Apse ; and two Apsidal Chapels on 
each side of it. 

I advise the visitor to walk straight up the church at first, 
and at once enter the apse, which is both the earhest and 
most important part of the building, and also contains the 
best tombs. You will see them thus before you are tired. 
Give the Sacristan half a franc and dismiss him, or he will 
bother you with " information." 

The High Altar is an ugly rococo erection of 1619, with 
Our Lady, angels, and saints, only interesting because the 
extreme figures to L. and R. below, in Roman military 
costume, represent the two sainted martyrs John and Paul 
(see Introduction) to whom the church is dedicated. These 
are the only figures of the nominal patrons which I have 
been able to discover in the building. The Dominicans do 
not seem to have thought much of them. 

Wall on the R., \st tomb^ fine florid Gothic "^^monument 
of Doge Michele Morosini, (d. 1382,) the most ornate of all 
the monuments in the pointed style, and one which well 
marks the increasing sumptuousness of Venetian life, 
especially when compared with that of Doge Giacomo Tie- 
polo outside the church and Doge Marco Corner opposite. 
Below, the Doge himself lies dead, with his head on a pillow, 
his serene, resolute, Dante-like features exquisitely sculp- 
tured. The seven pedestals below once supported the Seven 
Virtues — their earliest appearance on a true Venetian tomb. 
At the side, angels. Behind is a charming "^mosaic with the 
Crucifixion, St. John and Our Lady as usual ; the Archangel 
Michael (the Doge's personal patron saint) and the Virgin 
recommend the kneeling figure of the prince, in ducal cap 
and robe, to the mercy of the crucified Saviour : on the ex- 
treme R., St. John the Baptist similarly recommends the 
kneehng Dogaressa. Above is a rehef of Christ, and on 
the finial at the apex, the Doge's patron saint, St. Michael, 
once more, with the conquered dragon. At the sides are 



222 THE FRIARS' CHURCHES [ix. 

niched statues of saints, surmounted by an Annunciation. 
Study the whole as a characteristic specimen of the ornate 
late-Gothic tombs, which strike the keynote for later monu- 
ments. 

L. of this, the late-Renaissance tomb of Doge Leonardo 
Loredan, (d. 1521 ; but this monument was not erected by 
his family till 1572.) The statue of the Doge is by Cam- 
pagna ; the allegorical figures are uninteresting. 

L. wall, near the altar, "^tomb of Doge Andrea Vendra- 
min, (d. 1478,) by Alessandro Leopardi. This is a beautiful 
and costly piece of early-Renaissance architecture, with ex- 
quisite and delicately-chiselled sculpture. In the centre lies 
the Doge, recumbent on a couch supported by eagles ; the 
face, however, has only one side sculptured, that turned to- 
wards the spectator. Behind are three figures of pages or 
attendants ; beneath, in niches, the Virtues, dressed now 
like heathen goddesses, and hardly distinguishable from one 
another. R. and L. two youthful military figures, splendid 
soulless specimens of Renaissance workmanship. Are they 
St. George and St. Theodore — or only pages ? I think, the 
latter. Above them, an Annunciation, in two compartments. 
In the lunette under the arch between these, St. Mark re- 
commends the kneeling Doge to Our Lady. The outermost 
figures of St. Catharine and the Magdalen, below, do not 
belong to the original composition — they are later and in- 
ferior works, substituted for Adam and Eve (by Tullio Lom- 
bardo) of great beauty, which were removed as unsuitable 
for a church ; they are now in the Palazzo Vendramin- 
Calergi. All the details of this beautiful tomb, somewhat 
unjustly depreciated by Ruskin, should be carefully ex- 
amined. It shows still better the increase of the pomp of 
state in the Republic. Note especially the predominance of 
symbols marking a sense of the naval supremacy of Venice. 

L. of this, pure Gothic tomb of Doge Marco Corner, (d. 
1368,) with two angels. Madonna and Child, and two saints, 
(Mark and Peter,) under beautiful Gothic niches, probably 
by the Massegne. (The connecting portion between these 
saints and the recumbent figure has probably been de- 



IX.] THE FRIARS' CHURCHES 223 

stroyed.) The severe simplicity of this earher work con- 
trasts with the florid character of Morosini's tomb, opposite, 
and still more with that of Andrea Vendramin. The grow- 
ing boast/illness of the Renaissance can well be traced in 
this church and its monuments. 

Now, return to the main portal ^ and examine, first, the 
R. or South Aisle. 

R. of the door, on the end wall, the immense tomb ot 
Doge Pietro Mocenigo, by Pietro Lombardo and his sons, 
Tullio and Antonio. This is another specimen of the sump- 
tuous and costly Renaissance monuments, exquisite in 
decoration and splendid in finish, but wholly lacking in 
spiritual feeling. Three figures of captives, (representing, 
I think, the three ages of man,) support the sarcophagus of 
the Doge, which bears an inscription in Latin, " From the 
spoils of the enemy." (Note in this and later tombs the 
increasing desire to veil the nature and shape of the sarco- 
phagus by decorative adjuncts ) Above stands Pietro 
himself, with two pages ; by the side are armed allegorical 
figures ; and over the top is the Doge's patron St. Peter. 
The relief beneath, which is almost the only piece of 
Christian symbolism on the monument, represents the 
Resurrection; it is counteracted below by Hercules with the 
lion, and the Hydra. You will see in many of these later 
tombs how the recumbent figure of the deceased has risen 
from the sarcophagus, and now stands erect above it. 

On the south wall, (Right Aisle,) relief of Christ en- 
throned, between two flying angels, forming the tomb of 
Doge Ranieri Zen, (d. 1268.) Above it, a fine Renaissance 
sarcophagus, of the school of Leopardi, highly decorated, 
marks the tomb of Admiral Girolamo Canal, (d. 1535.) 

ist altar, altar-piece by Bissolo, Our Lady enthroned, 
with Franciscan saints, Francis and Bernardino ; at the 
sides, the four Fathers of the Church (Jerome, Augustine, 
Gregory, Ambrose :) behind, St. John the Baptist and 
St. Peter. An intrusive Franciscan work in this Dominican 
church : a modern substitution : it replaces a Bellini burnt 
in 1867 : see later. 



224 I' HE FRIARS' CHURCHES [ix. 

The next large monument, over the Confessional, is the 
tomb of Marc' Antonio Bragadino, the heroic defender of 
Famagosta, in Cyprus, against the Turks ; (d. 1596.) Un- 
interesting in itself, this big and ugly work commemorates a 
singular act of treachery ; Bragadino, who had surrendered 
on terms, was tortured and flayed alive by the Unspeakable, 
as the picture above shows. 

The 2nd altar, that of St. Vincent, has a much-debated 
altar-piece, variously attributed to Carpaccio, Alvise Vi- 
varini, and others : it seems to me to be by different hands. 
Below, St. Vincent, the patron ; L., St. Christopher wading 
with the infant Christ, and R., St. Sebastian : above, a 
Pietk ; at its sides, an Annunciation in two sections. 

Beyond it, tomb of the Procurator Alvise Michiel, (1589.) 

Pass the gaudy and over- decorated chapel beyond this, 
and stand for a moment opposite the truly appaSiing 
monument of Doge Bertuccio Valier, his son Silvestro, 
and his son's wife Elizabetta Quirini, (1708.) This is the 
largest tomb in the church, and a unique monument of 
atrocious taste. A huge dingy-yellow curtain is sustained 
by cupid-like angels, the lineal descendants of the beautiful 
and simple Pisan angels who draw the curtains on the tomb 
of Doge Andrea Dandolo in the Baptistery of San Marco. 
Note hereafter the gradual evolution of these angels : many 
examples in Venice will help you. The theatrical figures of 
the two Doges, and of the vulgar, ugly, and over-dressed 
old Dogaressa, in i8th century costume, are as bad as art 
can make them. The accessories match in tastelessness the 
central subject. Flounces and furbelows ; virtues, victories, 
genii, and lions. All bombast and rhodomontade. 

Beyond these opens the chape! of St. Dominic, founder 
of the order, enriched with six dull reliefs in bronze by 
Mazza, (1670,) telling in theatrical style the usual episodes 
from the life of St. Dominic. 

The R. Transept has a fine 16th-century stained-glass 
window, with St. George, St. Theodore, and other military 
and Franciscan saints, after a design by the Vivarini. 

R. wall of Transept, under glass, -^Bartolommeo Vi- 



IX.] THE FRIARS' CHURCHES 225 

varini, noble figure of St. Augustine, one of the best works 
of the master. Beyond it, perhaps by Cima, Coronation of 
the Virgin, in an assemblage of saints and angels. Above 
this, gilt equestrian monument of Nicolo Orsini, general 
of the Republic in the war against the League of Cambrai, 
(d. 1509,) obviously suggested by the Colleoni outside the 
church. End wall of Transept, ist altar^ * Lorenzo 
Lotto, Glory of St. Antoninus, of Florence, one of the 
painter's finest works, but unfortunately darkened, and ill 
seen in its present position. Angels whisper inspiration to 
the enthroned saint ; beneath him, the priests, his deputies, 
receive petitions and distribute alms to the poor, assembled 
at the base of the work. Fine silvery colour. 

The doof oj exit under the window is formed by the 
tomb of General Dionigi Naldo, (d. 15 10.) 

Altar to L. of the door, altar-piece by Rocco Marconi, 
Christ with St. Peter and St. Andrew. There is a repHca of 
this work in the Academy, where it can be seen to greater 
advantage. 

I St Choir chapel, (Chapel of the Crucifix,) fine re- 
cumbent Gothic tomb of Paolo Loredan, (1365.) This is 
a knightly image of a sort more common in the north than 
in Italy; on the simple sarcophagus, his name saint, St. 
Paul, and two angels. 

2nd Chapel (of St. Mary Magdalen.) On the altar, a 
late Renaissance statue of the Magdalen, only recognised 
as such by her pot of ointment ; otherwise, a mere volup- 
tuous Venetian courtesan : the framework is better. L. 
wall, monument of Marco Giustiniani, ambassador of the 
Republic to the Scaligers, (d. 1347,) a plain sarcophagus, 
with a Madonna and Child, and an Annunciation, supported 
by poor grotesque heads. Bear in mind the relative dates 
of these sarcophagi, and their gradual enrichment, as well 
as the evolution of accessories. 

Beyond the apse : ist Chapel (of the Trinity ;) Z. tvall, 
monument of Andrea Morosini, (1347;) again a sarcophagus 
with Madonna and Annunciation. 

and Chapel : R. wall, knightly tomb of Giacopo Cavalli. 

G. V. P . 



226 THE FRIARS' CHURCHES [iX. 

— full armour, face hardly seen through helmet : dog and 
lion pillow. He was general of Venetian troops in the war 
against Genoa, known as the war of Chioggia, (d. 1394.) 
The work is said in an inscription in Venetian dialect to 
be by Paolo di Jacobello, (one of the Massegne ;) it has the 
symbols of the evangelists and two saints (the two Jameses?), 
with brackets which once supported Faith, Hope, Charity. 
This is a noble tomb, still retaining much of its fine colour. 
Z. wall; monument of Doge Giovanni Dolfin, (1361 :) no 
inscription, but known by the arms, three dolphins : a fine 
sculptured sarcophagus : centre, Christ, with angels opening 
curtains, (note these,) and diminutive figures of the Doge 
and Dogaressa : at the ends, saints (?) male and female 
(perhaps patrons of the Doge and Dogaressa :) in the 
panels, L., Arrival and Adoration of the Magi ; R., Death 
of the Virgin, all of which are worthy of close attention. 

L. Traosept, end wall, near this chapel, tomb of Vittore 
Cappello, General of the Venetian army against the Turks, 
whom St. Helena, the discoverer of the True Cross, entrusts 
with a marshal's b^ton to defend the church against the 
infidel, (1480.) 

The door in this Transept gives access to the Chapel of 
the Rosary (closed) ; the Sacristan will try to make you 
enter it — resist him and he will flee from you. This was 
once the richly adorned chapel of the great Dominican cult — 
the Rosary. It now contains nothing but the charred and 
blackened remains of some very base bas-reliefs of the 
rococo period, much admired for their intricate and useless 
carving. The chapel was accidentally burned dov/n on 
August i6th, 1867 ; unfortunately, it contained at the 
moment two of the finest pictures in the church, a Madonna 
by Bellini, and Titian's famous Death of St. Peter Martyr, 
which had been placed in it temporarily. 

Over the door which leads to this Chapel is the tomb of 
Doge Antonio Venier, 1400, with numerous figures of saints, 
in beautiful niches, in the style of the Massegne. L. of the 
door, tomb of the same Doge's wife Agnese, and of their 
daughter Orsola, (1411 ;) a fine piece of architectural work, 



IX.] THE FRIARS' CHURCHES 227 

with an Annunciation, and a relief of Our Lady and Child 
between St. Paul and St. John the Evangelist. 

L. wall of Transept, poor tomb of Leonardo Prato, 
knight of Rhodes, with an equestrian figure (151 1.) 
Equestrian figures are common here, all suggested by the 
inimitable Colleoni : feeble imitations. 

The L; Aisle has in its ist bay nothing of interest. 
Beyond the ^rst door^ brown stone tomb of Doge Pasquale 
Malapiero, of fine Florentine earlier- Renaissance workman- 
ship ; the Doge lies on a sarcophagus supported by griffons, 
under curtains ridiculously suggestive of a shower-bath ; 
there are no angels ; above are a Pieta and figures of Virtues. 

Next to it, tomb of Giovanni Battista Bonzio, a senator, 
(d. 1508,) in the usual Renaissance style, with a figure of 
the deceased, and the now inevitable Virtues. Beneath this 
tomb is an arcade, with statues of two great Dominican 
saints, St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Peter Martyr. The 
arcade contains in the arch to the R., the beautiful tomb of 
Doge Michele Steno, (1413,) placed low enough to admit of 
examination ; this is only a portion of the original work, 
transferred here from the demolished church of the Servites : 
the pleasing Latin inscription is worth reading. The arch 
to the L. has the Renaissance tomb of Alvise Trevisan, 1528, 
an only son whom his mourning parents have thus com- 
memorated. 

The next monument is the gilt equestrian statue of 
Pompeo Giustiniani, 1616. Beneath it is the unobtrusive 
tombstone, containing the epitaph alone, of Doge Giovanni 
Dandolo, (1289.) Then comes the admirable transitio?ial 
monument of Doge Tomaso Mocenigo, (1423,) under a 
Gothic tabernacle, with the usual recumbent effigy (fine) of 
the Doge lying dead on a sarcophagus, containing Virtues 
in Renaissance niches, together with two armed figures of 
mock-antique type at the angles. Here angels withdraw the 
curtains, the evolution of these angels from the Pisan 
original, and their final disappearance (as in the Valier 
atrocity) being well studied in this church and at the Frari ; 
above are saints in niches. Observe the intermixture of 



228 THE FRIARS' CHURCHES [ix. 

Gothic and classical forms and mouldings in the tomb before 
which you are now standing ; it is by the Florentine sculp- 
tors Piero di Niccolo and Giovanni di Martino, who were 
among the first introducers of Renaissance art in Venice. 

R. of the next altar, monument of Doge Nicolo Marcello, 
1474, by Alessandro Leopardi, brought here from the de- 
molished Servite church of Santa Marina. This is another 
good specimen of the early Renaissance tomb, with four 
figures of Virtues in the niches, and a relief of the kneeling 
Doge before Our Lady in the lunette, accompanied by 
patron saints of Venice. The altar close to this has an 
early copy of Titian's Death of St. Peter Martyr, by Cigoli, 
presented by King Victor Emmanuel in place of the 
original, destroyed in the fire. St. Peter Martyr was of 
course one of the chief hghts of the Dominican order. L. 
of the altar, a boastful and ugly gilt equestrian statue forms 
the monument of Orazio Baglioni, (1617,) represented as 
riding over fallen enemies. The modern marble tomb, L. 
of this statue, tasteless enough in itself, commemorates the 
two brothers Bandiera, Italian patriots done to death by 
Austria in 1844 through the cruel connivance of the English 
government with foreign despotism. Over the next altary 
statue of St. Jerome by Alessandro Vittoria. 

The end wall of the nave is occupied, in its ist arch, 
by the tomb of Doge Giovanni Mocenigo, (1485,) a work of 
Tullio and Antonio Lombardo. This is a characteristic 
middle- Renaissance monument, showing progressive de- 
terioration in taste, though still splendid in workmanship 
and pure in decoration : it is of a type with which the reader 
will now be familiar, having on a sarcophagus the recum- 
bent figure of the Doge, who is presented, in the lunette, to 
the Madonna and Child by his patron saints ; at the sides 
are Virtues, personally indistinguishable, and at the base, 
two reliefs of the Baptism of Christ and of St. Mark baptis- 
ing at Alexandria, this last in compliment to St. John the 
Baptist, the Doge's patron. Observe in the former how the 
three angels on the bank, once adult in form, have now 
shrunk into meaningless little children. ' 



IX.] THE FRIARS' CHURCHES 229 

The entire space between this Mocenigo tomb and the 
far finer opposite one of Doge Pietro Mocenigo is occupied 
by a third colossal work, dedicated to the same family and 
representing the tombs of Doge Luigi Mocenigo, (1576,) 
and his Dogaressa, as well as that of Doge Giovanni Bembo, 
with their recumbent figures and statues of Christ, etc. 
The reliefs represent their tenure of office (the Doge at 
prayer, the Doge sitting in council). The whole expanse of 
this great West Wall is thus given over entirely to the 
glorification of the powerful and wealthy Mocenigo family. 

For convenience of identification on a first visit, I have 
treated all the tombs in this church in local order only, but 
the visitor who has time for careful study will find it useful 
to compare them in their chronological sequence, and 
thus to gain a just idea of the rise, development, culmina- 
tion, decline, and final degradation of the sculptor's art in 
Venice. Fine criticisms of the most important tombs, and 
a good sketch of their development, are given by Ruskin. 

The great Dominican monastery behind the church is 
now secularised. 

B. THE FRARI 

[The Franciscans or Frati Minor! di San Francesco were 
settled at Venice as early as 1227. In 1250, having by that 
time begged sufficient funds, they began the erection of 
their great church, adjoining their friary. It was completed 
about 1338, (by Fra Pacifico,) and dedicated to Our Lady, 
under the title of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. A few 
Doges are buried here ; but the monuments are chiefly 
those of great Venetians, military, naval, or administrative, 
and of painters or sculptors. Families were then divided 
into friends of the Franciscans and of the Dominicans. 
Bear in mind that this is a Franciscan church, and expect 
to find Franciscan saints and symbols. 

Do not visit the Frari with this book till af/er you have 
seen San Zanipolo (Giovanni e Paolo.)] 



The Frari can be approached either by gondola direct, 



230 THE FRIARS' CHURCHES [ix. 

or by the steamboat to San Tomk station, as before (see 
under San Rocco). 

Externally the church, though vast, is not very in- 
teresting. 

The West Front has a fine Italian Gothic doorway, sur- 
mounted by figures of the risen Christ, with the Madonna 
and Child, and the founder of the Order, St. Francis. The 
South Facade is chiefly interesting as affording a view of 
the lofty Campanile, erected in 1361 by Jacopo delle 
Massegne. High up on its West side are figures of Our 
Lady with the Child, and St. Francis receiving the stigmata 
from a six-winged crucified seraph. Beyond the campanile, 
again, we come to a fine doorway of a special Venetian 
type, the finial ending in a figure with an open book, 
characteristically Venetian ; below is a charming relief of 
Our Lady enthroned with the Child, between two ador- 
ing angels, of the school of the Massegne (about 1400). 
Over the other door, to the R. of this, is a figure of St 
Francis. 

Walk round further into the little Campo in front of the 
Scuola di San Rocco, in order to observe the lofty un- 
buttressed Apse, which, as is often the case in Venetian 
churches, is architecturally the most interesting portion of 
the building. It is probable that the traceries in these 
windows suggested those of the Doge's Palace. This Apse 
and the Chapels adjacent should be examined externally 
from several points of view. 

Enter by the door in the South Aisle. 

The interior resembles in its largeness of parts and in 
general plan that of San Giovanni e Paolo ; it has a Nave, 
simple Aisles, an Apse, and six Apsidal Chapels in line with 
the Apse (four at San Zanipolo). Its chief peculiarity, how- 
ever, is, that the Choir is placed West of the Transepts, 
as in Westminster Abbey and in some other northern 
churches. 

Begin your examination of the interior in the R. or 
N. AisSe. 

1st altar, rococo. 



IX.] THE FRIARS' CHURCHES 23 1 

Near the isf pillar^ on a Holy Water Basin, statue of 
Chastity bearing a lamb, by Campagna (1593). 

Beyond this, modern monument to Titian, erected by 
Ferdinand I., (1838-52,) with the muses of Sculpture, 
Architecture, Painting, and Wood-carving. Titian himself 
is seated in the centre; behind him, relief representing 
his famous picture of the Assumption, formerly the High 
Altar-piece of this Franciscan church. 

2nd altar, Salviati, Presentation of the infant Virgin in 
the Temple. Beyond it, rococo monument of Almerico 
D'Este, general of the Republic, with his statue, (1660.) 

^rd altar, statue of St. Jerome with his lion, by Alessandro 
Vittoria, said to be a likeness of Titian in his 98th year, and 
famous for its anatomical correctness. Behind it, Glory of 
St. Francis. 

Mount the steps by the Choir. Pass three or four un- 
important i6th and 17th-century monuments, and enter the 
R. Transept. 

R. wall of Transept, early Renaissance monument of 
Jacopo Marcello, (1484,) by the Lombardi. The sarco- 
phagus is borne by three crouching figures of captives : 
above it is the statue of Marcello himself, erect, not recum- 
bent ; on either side, military pages. This is a fine early 
example of the non-recumbent figure. (In other places, 
intermediate forms occur where the figure slowly raises 
itself on one elbow.) 

Beyond it, *altar-piece in three sections, by Bartolommeo 
Vivarini ; in the centre. Our Lady and Child ; L., St. Andrew 
and St. Nicolas of Myra, with the three balls ; R., St. Paul 
and St. Peter ; above, a Pietk, with gilt wooden adoring 
angels. 

End wall, near door of Sacristy, ornate terra-cotta florid- 
Gothic monument of the " Beato " Pacifico, a Franciscan 
brother, and the architect under whom this church was 
completed, erected (a century after his death) by his family. 
This is a fine specimen of Florentine terra-cotta, its over- 
elaborate Gothic almost merging into Renaissance, with 
"wild crockets." In the lunette is the Baptism of Christ ; 



232 THE FRIARS' CHURCHES [ix. 

on a sarcophagus, beneath it, Faith, Hope, and Charity, in 
niches, with the Resurrection, and Christ in Hades ; on 
the finial. Our Lady and the Child ; at the sides, above, a 
painted Annunciation. This curious and interesting transi- 
tional work deserves careful examination. 

Over the door of the Sacristy, monument of Admiral 
Benedetto Pesaro, 1503, by Lorenzo Bregno and Antonio 
Minello : the Pesari were the chief patrons of this Fran- 
ciscan church. The portal itself is formed by the monu- 
ment, which bears ships and other emblems of Pesaro's 
victories ; in the centre, the Admiral's statue ; above it, in 
the pediment, Our Lady and the Child ; L., Neptune (?) 
and R., Mars (by Baccio da Montelupo)— heathen deities 
admitted into a Christian church. 

L. of this, spirited wooden equestrian statue of a Roman 
prince, Paolo Savello, with stolid bourgeois features ; on 
the sarcophagus. Our Lady and the Child, and the usual 
Annunciation. In this case and others hke it the recum- 
bent figure has not only risen from the lid of the tomb, but 
has actually mounted on horseback. 

Enter the Sacristy (closed ; the Sacristan expects a 
small fee). 

Opposite the door, large marble reliquary, with reliefs of 
the Passion, of the 17th century; good and relatively un- 
affected works of their bad period. In the centre, behind 
a curtain, beautiful "^Renaissance ciborium, with charming 
decorative work ; relief of a Pietk, and figures of St. John 
the Baptist and St. Francis. 

The "^altar-piece at the end of this Sacristy consists of 
an exquisite work in three panels, by Giovanni Bellini, 
painted in 1488. This picture (usually known as "the Frari 
Madonna") is perhaps the loveliest of Bellini's Madonnas. 
The picture is enclosed in its charming original frame, the 
decorative work of which is continued in the painted niche 
of the central panel. Our Lady sits enthroned, with a deli- 
cately soft and tender expression, in a small chapel, like one 
of those in St. Mark's, with a gold mosaic cupola. The 
Child on her knees stands erect and naked. At the foot 



IX.] THE FRIARS' CHURCHES 233 

are two charming little angels, playing musical instruments, 
their attitudes more fanciful and their clothing scantier than 
in earlier examples of Bellini's art. These angels are 
probably his most popular single figures. The whole is a 
sweetly mystical and celestial presentment of the Mother 
of God. The four stately saints on the side-panels are 
noble figures, but difficult to discriminate in the absence 
of symbols : I take them (very doubtfully) to be, L., St 
Nicholas and St. Peter, R., St. Paul and St. Benedict ; but 
I am open to correction. The entire work is very rich and 
mellow in colour : gravely beautiful, and saintly in feeling. 

Re-enter the main church, and proceed to examine the 
Apsidal Chapels. 

The isi chapel, of St. Francis, has an ugly modern altar- 
piece of St. Francis receiving the stigmata, which I notice 
here only for its importance as regards the Franciscan 
order ; all the symbolism of the chapel is obviously Fran- 
ciscan. 

2nd chapel : on the R. wall, the monument of Duccio 
degli Alberti, ambassador of Florence in Venice, (d. 1336.) 
This is the earliest tomb in Venice on which the Virtues 
appear, (Justice and Temperance at the sides :) but it is 
of Florentine workmanship; otherwise it resembles the 
ordinary early-Gothic tombs in having the recumbent figure 
of the deceased on a sarcophagus, and a canopy above it. 
Study it as marking an epoch in the evolution of Venetian 
sculpture. Many later tombs are copied from it. L. wall, 
14th-century tomb, usually called "the Monument of the 
Unknown Knight ;" it has no inscription, but presents the 
well-sculptured figure of a knight in hauberk and helmet, 
lying dead on his sarcophagus, with a dog (his crest) at his 
feet. Above him is a figure of St. Joseph bearing the infant 
Christ, towards whom the face of the figure turns. These 
two admirable early tombs should be carefully compared, 
both for architecture and symbolism, and contrasted with 
the bombastic tone of later monuments. 

The 3rd chapel has nothing of importance. 

The Apse, the internal architecture of which is rather 



234 '^HE FRIARS' CHURCHES [ix. 

interesting than beautiful, had formerly for its High Altar- 
piece Titian's Assumption of the Madonna, as is appro- 
priate in a church dedicated to St. Mary in Glory. This 
famous picture, towards which the whole building once 
converged, is now in the Academy, and its place has been 
taken by an altar-piece of the same subject by Salviati, 
brought from the demolished church of the Servites. 

R. wall of Apse, late Gothic, almost Renaissance, tomb 
of Doge Francesco Foscari, (d. 1457,) by Antonio Rizzo. 
This is a striking example of the way in which the late 
Gothic monuments approached the Renaissance ideals. It 
also shows the increased size and costliness of the later 
tombs. The centre of the design is occupied by the sarco- 
phagus, supported by base trefoiled arches : on it lies the 
dead Doge, with solid practical unimaginative features. At 
his head and feet stand the four Cardinal Virtues, life-size, 
and becoming of immensely increased importance in the 
composition. The curtains above (like those of a bed) are 
drawn, no longer by angels, but by two pages in armour, 
introduced merely to show a knowledge of classical costume 
and of anatomy. On the sarcophagus itself are Faith, 
Hope, and Charity, retaining little, if anything, of Gothic 
feeling. Above the curtains is a figure of Christ blessing, 
in a mandorla ; at the sides, a somewhat affected Annuncia- 
tion ; the rampant foliage of the pediment is very un- 
pleasing. Altogether this tomb exhibits the last stage of 
decadent Gothic — " the refuse of one style encumbering the 
embryo of another." 

The L. wall is occupied by the immense early Renais- 
sance tomb of Doge Nicolo Tron, (d. 1473,) also by Rizzo. 
The difference between this and the one opposite, which 
can so readily be compared with it, marks the change which 
was fast coming over Venetian art. As far as purity of 
design goes, Rizzo's Renaissance manner is at any rate 
better than his decadent Gothic. This monument is also 
noticeable as being one of the first which has the figure of 
its occupant repeated, — once dead, on the sarcophagus, and 
once, below, as an erect living statue. I will not enumerate 



IX.] THE FRIARS' CHURCHES 235 

all the separate figures of armed pages displaying shields, 
the Temporal and Theological Virtues, and the host of 
other conventional sculptor's properties with which we are 
now familiar. They are hardly worth individual description. 
The upper portion of the tomb consists of a figure of the 
risen Christ, in the lunette, with an Annunciation, now con- 
ceived in true Renaissance spirit, at the sides ; it has a 
statue of God the Father as a finial. Sumptuous, well- 
worked, empty, unimpressive. The Doge himself is as dull 
as he is ugly : a cunning business man, with no spark of 
nobility. 

The isf apsidal chapel beyond the Apse has a fine early 
sarcophagus, with the Madonna and Child, and an Annun- 
ciation. The altar-piece, by Pordenone, represents Our 
Lady with the Child, and assorted Franciscan saints, (St. 
Francis, St. Antony of Padua, St. Louis of Toulouse, and 
others.) 

The 2nd apsidal chapel has a gilt wooden Renaissance 
altar-piece by Dentone, with a wooden figure of St. John 
the Baptist as a penitent in the desert, by Donatello. The 
other figures are St. Jerome, St. Genevieve, an Annuncia- 
tion, and a Resurrection. In the altar beneath repose the 
remains of St. Theodore, the original patron of the Republic, 
removed here from the Scuola di San Teodoro, near the- 
church of San Salvatore ; nobody now seems to take much 
notice of him. On the L. wall of this chapel is the Re- 
naissance monument of Melchior Trevisan, general of the 
Republic, (1500,) the sarcophagus (now reduced to an un- 
interesting relic) forming a mere base for the statue of the 
general, and flanked by his pages as supporters. This is 
the last stage reached by the simple sarcophagus tomb. 

The srd apsidal chapel is that of the Milanese, belonging 
to the merchants of Milan established in Venice. It is 
naturally dedicated to the great patron saint of Milan, St. 
Ambrose, and has a fine altar-piece (by Alvise Vivarini and 
Basaiti) representing St. Ambrose enthroned in the centre,, 
attended by other saints. Nearest to the Milanese Father 
are the military patron saints of hospitable Venice, St. 



236 THE FRIARS' CHURCHES [ix. 

George and St. Theodore. On the right are the other 
Doctors of the Church usually associated with Ambrose — 
St. Gregory, St. Augustine, and St. Jerome. On the L. are 
an assorted group of miscellaneous saints, Sebastian, John 
the Baptist, and others. At the foot of the throne sit the 
usual musical angels. In the painted loft above is a curious 
Coronation of the Virgin, evidently by another hand. This 
very allusive altar-piece thus combines devotion to St. 
Ambrose, as patron saint of Milan and as Doctor of the 
Church, with polite recognition of Venetian hospitality, and 
the usual Adriatic desire to propitiate a powerful and useful 
plague-saint. 

The L. Transept has a delicate small Gothic doorway, 
to the R. of the ugly Renaissance one. On its R. wall is an 
■^altar-piece in three sections, by Bartolommeo Vivarini, still 
filling its original Gothic tabernacle framework, — the last 
worthy of inspection. It has in its central panel, St. Mark 
enthroned, as patron of Venice, with musical angels at his 
feet. To the L. are St. John the Baptist, and St. Jerome 
holding the church of which he was the luminary ; to the 
R., St. Paul and St. Nicholas : (St. Ambrose and St. Peter.?) 

Before passing down the L. Aisle, cast a glance at the 
carved wood stalls in the Choir, which were the seats of the 
Franciscan brethren in this monastery. 

In the L. Aisle is a graceful small doorway, with our 
Lady and kneeling brethren. 

The rood=screen, which shuts off the choir from the 
nave, is late work, unimpressive, and has the usual Crucifix, 
with Our Lady, St. John, the four Evangelists, and the 
prophets. 

Opposite this screen, in the L. Aisle, is the large Chapel 
of the Baptistery ; it contains the Font, crowned by the 
usual figure of St. John the Baptist, (by Sansovino.) Over 
this font is a handsome monument, in the style of the Mas- 
segne, with five figures of saints, whom I cannot satisfac- 
torily identify. 

The Altar-piece is also a work in sculpture by the Mas- 
segne : below (later work) in the centre, St. Peter enthroned ; 



IX.J THE FRIARS' CHURCHES 237 

at the sides, (I think,) St. Jerome, St. John the Baptist, St. 
Andrew, and St. Francis or St. Antony of Padua ; above, 
Our Lady and the Child, with four great female saints, St. 
Lucy with the lamp, St. Catharine with the wheel, St. Mary 
Magdalen with the pot of ointment, and St. Claire with the 
cross. (Identifications doubtful.) 

The rest of this Aisle is chiefly given up to the great 
family of the Pesari, who were the chief patrons of the 
Franciscans in Venice. 

Just beyond the door of the Baptistery, with its handsome 
arch, is the late Renaissance tomb of Bishop Jacopo Pesaro, 
(d. 1547.) This shows fine workmanship, and little feeling. 
The Bishop lies semi-erect on his sarcophagus, one of those 
transitional instances where the recumbent figure seems to 
be trying to raise itself. The bier is adorned with plaques 
of coloured marble and supported by two children with 
their feet on skulls. The canopy is characteristic of later 
Renaissance feeling. Good, but unpleasing. 

The altar beyond this has for its altar-piece Titian's 
famous **Madonna of the Pesaro family. This singular 
picture, one of the most celebrated of its author's works, was 
painted for the same Bishop, Jacopo Pesaro, whose tomb we 
have just examined beside it. A word of explanation is 
necessary here. In 1501, Jacopo Pesaro, who was bishop of 
Paphos in Cyprus, then still a Venetian possession, was 
appointed by Pope Alexander VI. (Borgia) to the command 
of the Papal fleet in the new crusade at that time being 
undertaken against the Turks by Rome, Venice, and Hun- 
gary. For this occasion, Titian painted for the militant 
prelate a very beautiful picture, (now at Antwerp,) in which 
Pope Alexander VI. introduces to St. Peter the new Admiral 
of the Holy See. On the bishop's successful return from his 
naval expedition, he commissioned Titian to paint this 
second altar-piece as a thanksgiving for his victory. The 
scene is a lofty portico in a soaring church of then unex- 
ampled size, like St. Peter's at Rome. Our Lady sits en- 
throned with the Child near some colossal columns. Just 
below her sits St. Peter, reading, (at whose feet are the 



2a8 THE FRIARS' CHURCHES [ix. 

keys ;) he is disturbed from his book and looks away to- 
wards the surrounding figures, as though the Holy See were 
diverted for the moment from its spiritual task to undertake 
a necessary military adventure. He gazes down benig- 
nantly, (as does also Our Lady,) upon the kneeling figure of 
the donor, Bishop Jacopo Pesaro himself, (on the L.,) an 
admirable portrait. Behind the bishop, St. George, repre- 
senting the military power of Venice, and extending his 
arm towards the kneeling donor, holds aloft the banner of 
the Holy See, bearing the arms of the Borgias, surmounted 
by the Papal crown, and crowned above with the laurel- 
leaves of victory. Behind him, again, bows a captive Turk, 
a trophy of the fighting ecclesiastic's campaign against the 
Infidel. The right-hand side of the picture is occupied by 
the figures of St. Francis and St. Antony of Padua, who 
represent this Franciscan church of the Frari. Beside them 
kneels Benedetto Pesaro, the head of the house of Pesaro, 
(his tomb is in the R. transept,) with other members of his 
family, most of them in the crimson robes of Venetian sena- 
tors, (Knights of St. Mark.) The Franciscan saints seem 
to commend them to Our Lady. Angels, dwindling after 
the wont of the time into babes, fill the upper portion of 
the picture. The allegorical meaning of this famous and 
beautiful work deserves a little study. It well exhibits the 
increasing importance of the portraits of the donor and his 
relations, who now quite throw into the shade Our Lady 
and the saints. A fine piece of composition, departing 
boldly from the old conventional symmetry : gorgeous 
colouring : admirable light and shade. 

Beyond the Titian, and over the stnall door oi the S. 
Aisle, stands the gigantic, vulgar, and ugly monument of 
Doge Giovanni Pesaro, (d. 1659,) by Longhena and another. 
This is the worst Baroque work in this church, almost 
equalling in pretentious vulgarity the tomb of the Valiers in 
San Zanipolo. The boastful character of the monument is 
shown, not only in its vast size, but in its theatrically ges- 
ticulating Virtues, its fly-away Faith, Hope, and Charity, its 
oddly startled figure of the Doge, jumping forward under 



IX.] THE FRIARS CHURCHES 239 

the canopy of his own sarcophagus, (which is supported by 
very fearsome nondescript animals,) and, above all, in the 
four figures of captive negroes (black marble faces with 
white eyes) which sustain the whole. The skeletons below 
are in the vilest taste of their period. The bombastic 
Latin inscriptions, exactly paralleling the style of the tomb, 
state that the Doge "lived 70 years," " unlived," (not died,) 
"in the year 1659," and "lived again in this monument in 
the year 1669." A monstrous and hideous nightmare. 

Beyond this is the frigidly " correct " modern tomb of the 
sculptor Canova, (d. 1822,) with finely-sculptured but unim- 
pressive figures from his own design for the tomb of Titian. 
Its chilly classicalism, its emptiness of feeling, and its 
blank white spaces produce a cold effect that is eminently 
unpleasing. 

Over the Holy Water Vessel, beyond, statue in bronze of 
the great local Franciscan luminary, St. Antony of Padua, 
by Balthazar Stella. 

End wall, near the door. Renaissance tomb of Pietro 
Bernardo, d. 1538, by Alessandro Leopardi, a piece of very 
fine and delicate workmanship, wasted upon an exceedingly 
ugly and meaningless design. Much of the minor decora- 
tion is, however, most beautiful and graceful ; it deserves to 
be examined rather in detail than as a whole. Mr. Ruskin 
seems to me unjust in his denunciation of this and of many 
other fine early-Renaissance monuments. 

The vast Franciscan monastery at the back of the 
church has been seized by Government and converted into 
the Public Archives, 

From the little Campo in front of the church, you may 
cross the bridge and turn to the L. Cross another bridge, 
and keep along the street a little to the R. ; cross the 
Campo S. Stin, obhquely to the L., when one turn to the L., 
and one to the R., will bring you into the little Campiello di 
San Giovanni. Here you find the portico and remains of 
the once splendid 5cuola di San Giovanni Evangelista, 
where was pieserved the famous relic of the Holy Cross, 



240 THE FRIARS' CHURCHES [ix. 

and whence were brought the Gentile Bellinis now in the 
octagonal room at the Academy. A post in front, dated 
1554, has brethren of the Fraternity worshipping the Holy 
Cross, with the eagle, the symbol of the Evangelist ; on 
the sides are other symbols. The gateway is in the style of 
the Lombardi ; it is surmounted by the Holy Cross, with 
adoring angels ; in the lunette, the eagle of the Evangelist. 
The door and windows have fine Renaissance decoration. 
The court-yard has late-Gothic windows with florid finials. 
The rest of its architecture is early Renaissance. Over the 
main door is a figure of St. John ; under a lunette to the L., 
the Evangelist receiving the members of the Fraternity, 
with Our Lady and the Child above. This gate, portico, 
and court are a picturesque relic of what was once a very 
stately Guildhall. The interior only deserves a brief visit 
for the sake of its still handsome rooms, of its empty church, 
and of the pictures which once adorned it, now in the 
Academy. 



X 

MINOR SIGHTS 

P" I ^HE objects already enumerated in this volume com- 
|_ X pose, it seems to me, the group of sights best 
worth seeing at Venice. But in saying this I do not wish 
to be dogmatic : I merely desire to advise the reader to the 
best of my ability. Tastes differ ; I can only recommend 
first what my own taste judges to be most important. There 
are, however, an immense number of other churches and 
collections of very high interest, which thoroughly deserve a 
visit from those who have already been able to give adequate 
consideration to St. Mark's, the Doge's Palace, the Academy, 
and the other greater buildings or museums of the city. 
Many of them contain individual pictures or pieces of 
sculpture which in themselves may fairly claim to rank 
among the most beautiful works of art in Venice. It must 
always be a question for the individual tourist to decide, 
indeed, whether it is worth his while to take a long journey 
by gondola or on foot into some distant quarter of the town 
in order to see some particular Giovanni Bellini or some 
stray Tintoretto, to which Ruskin has called attention by 
exaggerated praise, at a time when he has not yet been able 
to look at half the equally fine Bellinis in the Academy, or 
half the perhaps still finer Tintorettos in the Doge's Palace. 
On the other hand, certain students may desire to hunt up 
every specimen of some one master who specially appeals 
to them. My own strong advice to the average cultivated 
visitor who can only spend a month or six weeks in Venice 
is this — see thoroughly first the buildings or objects thus far 
enumerated, and then, (but only then,) take your choice 
among the following minor sights, which I mention in 
G. V. 241 Q 



242 MINOR SIGHTS [x. 

what seems to me, roughly speaking, the order of their 
relative value and instructiveness. By this I do not neces- 
sarily mean their importance as individual artistic master- 
pieces. It may easily happen that some remote church may 
contain a single fine Carpaccio or Veronese, while the 
churches to which I first call attention here possess no 
solitary work of equal importance. But, then, you will have 
neglected many Carpaccios and Veroneses quite as good in 
the great buildings ; and it is often better worth while to 
look at some group of individually second-rate objects that 
throw light collectively on the history of art, than to run 
after every famous picture or statue. It is a fatal mistake, 
indeed, to suppose that what one should see above every- 
thing is the mighty masterpieces : as a rule, masterpieces are 
merely works of a particular age and school which rise more 
or less distinctly above its general level ; it is only by under- 
standing first that general level that they can be rightly 
appreciated, and allowed to fall into their proper place in 
the entire aesthetic movement of their century. I therefore 
give first some account of those buildings of the second 
rank which I think most useful in filling in your conception 
of Venice as a whole, and proceed afterwards to mention a 
few of the scattered masterpieces which those whose time 
permits it may look up for themselves in the remoter parts 
of the city.] 

A. SAN GIORGIO DEGLI SCHIAVONI 

[The Dalmatians and Illyrians were amongst the 
earliest subjects of the Venetian Republic ; the trade with 
the opposite coast was always considerable, much of Venice 
being built of Istrian stone and Dalmatian timber. Indeed, 
the chief quay itself derived from the name of this Slavonic 
people the title (which it still bears) of Riva degli Schiavoni. 
In 1452, the Council of Ten permitted certain leading 
Dalmatian merchants settled at Venice to establish a lay 
brotherhood, called, after the two great patron saints of 
Dalmatia, the Fraternity of St. George and St, Tryphonius. 
It was founded for the relief of old and poor Dalmatians, 



X.] MINOR SIGHTS 243 

especially sailors, for the burial of the dead, and for the 
education of the needy children of their race ; and these 
objects are still its care at the present day, for it continues 
to exist in modern Venice. The Brotherhood built itself a 
Httle oratory or chapel near the Priory of St. John of Jeru- 
salem, on the Rio della Pietk ; and at the close of the 15th 
century the members rebuilt this hall in the present form, 
the work being completed, and the marble fagade finished, 
in the year 1501. During the next ten years, Carpaccio was 
employed to decorate its walls with a series of paintings 
illustrating the lives of the two patron saints, George and 
Tryphonius, and also that of St. Jerome, the translator of 
the Scriptures from Hebrew and Greek into Latin (in the 
version known as the Vulgate), who, though not a patron of 
the Guild, was a Dalmatian, and therefore a countryman of 
its members. This chapel or meeting-hall of the Brother- 
hood is commonly known as San Giorgio degli Schiavoni^ 
and is best reached by gondola. (If on foot, go towards 
San Zaccaria ; then San Giorgio dei Greci and Sant' 
Antonino ; whence a Fondamenta leads direct to the door.) 
It should be visited for the sake of these exquisite works of 
Carpaccio's, which are both beautiful in themselves, and 
also show one a series like the St. Ursulas of the Academy, 
still existing in the very building and in the very framework 
for which they were originally intended.] 

The simple middle-Renaissance facade (by Sansovino) 
dates from 1551, but has embedded in its front a quaint late 
15th or early i6th century relief of St. George, mounted, 
piercing the dragon's head. The dragon has one paw on 
the bust of a previous victim. Behind is a charming figure 
of the little Princess, fleeing ; in the background, the towers 
and ramparts of a medic^val city. Above this, St. John the 
Baptist presents the donor to Our Lady and the Child ; as 
he lays his hand on the votary's head, the latter's name was 
probably Giambattista. To the R., St. Catharine of Alexan- 
dria, crowned, with her wheel and her palm of martyrdom : 
probably patroness of the donor's vv'ife. 



244 MINOR SIGHTS [x. 

The interior consists of a pretty little panelled oratory, 
with good wooden roof. Above the panels are the famous 
■^paintings by Carpaccio, which have made it a shrine for 
many worshippers not Slavs. 

Begin on the L. wall, ist picture : St. George conquering 
the Dragon. The youthful saint, with fair hair flying in the 
wind, and in admirably painted armour, sits on a brown 
horse of somewhat clumsy build, as was usual with 
mediaeval horses. He tilts with his lance at the dragon, a 
very terrible and typical monster. The ground hard by is 
covered with the bleached bones of previous victims. To 
the R,, the little princess, crowned and in a red robe, 
stands with clasped hands, confident of her champion's 
speedy victory. In the background, a seascape with ships, 
strongly recalling the story of Perseus and Andromeda, from 
which this is an obvious derivative. To the L. is architec- 
ture, intended, after Carpaccio's wont, to represent the 
rudeness of a pagan city. 

2nd picture : '^'^St. George leads the conquered and crest- 
fallen dragon, — a passing tame beast indeed, — into the 
pagan city. The centre is occupied by the saint and his 
bridled victim. To the L. are charming figures of the pagan 
(or Saracen) king, on a white charger, and the princess, 
also mounted, beside him. Behind these, to the L., Oriental 
figures, (probably derived from studies made by Gentile 
Bellini at Constantinople,) all excellently drawn and 
coloured. The background is formed by the buildings of 
the city, crowded with spectators. On the R., more 
orientals, representing, I think, a second scene, where the 
king and princess have dismounted from their chargers 
(notice the exact similarity of the trappings on the two rider- 
less horses to those in the other portion of the picture). 
Within, the saint is probably preparing his new and sudden 
converts for baptism. 

The small panel beyond these, (with the risen Christ and 
an adoring donor,) is not by Carpaccio, and is unimportant. 

Altar=wall : *the Baptism of the king and princess. 
The saint stands on the steps of the palace, pouring water 



X.] MINOR SIGHTS 245 

over the bare head of the converted king. Behind him, a 
delicious attendant bears a lovely vase with water for the 
ceremony. Beyond the king, the princess, with her long 
golden hair, kneels to await the Sacrament : her tiring- 
woman is Moorish, and wears a pretty oriental shawl. The 
king's turban is tidily laid on the steps. To the L., in order 
to show that this is a great state ceremony, musicians blow 
trumpets and bang drums, while Saracens in turbans look 
on at the triumph of the new religion. Dignified courtiers 
kneel beside them. All the accessories, such as the parrot, 
the dog, the architecture, etc., deserve close observation. 
Note how the careful saint withdraws his rich red robe to 
save it from wetting ; he is still in armour beneath it, be- 
cause that is part of his symbolical character. Do not pass 
too quickly over these lovely and pregnant pictures. 

The altar=piece is a pretty, but insipid. Madonna and 
Child, by Vincenzo Catena, substituted for one by Car- 
paccio. 

Beyond the altar, end wall, a single scene from the life 
of St. Tryphonius, the other patron saint of the fraternity. 
It represents the one great episode in his legend : St. 
Tryphonius, as a child, subdues a basilisk, which had 
ravaged Albania. The child's head and figure are pretty 
and schoolboyish ; the basilisk is not well imagined. To 
the R. sits the Governor, with features like those of 
Louis XI. and Henry VII. of England, surrounded by 
courtiers. The rest of the canvas is taken up by wondering 
spectators, and Carpaccio's usual architecture. Note the 
beautiful rugs through the windows, and observe that the 
miracle is treated again as a state ceremony. 

On the R. wall are two pictures unconnected in subject 
with the series. The first, the Agony in the Garden, (by 
Carpaccio, but ruined,) has the three sleeping saints in the 
usual attitudes, and above, the praying Saviour. 

The subject of the *2nd picture is much debated ; Ruskin 
describes it as the Calling of Matthew ; others regard it as 
Christ invited to the house of the Pharisee. I am myself 
inclined to consider it as the Rich Young Man to whom 



246 MINOR SIGHTS [x. 

Christ gives the command, " Sell all that thou hast and 
follow me." The Saviour, surrounded by the apostles, grasps 
the hand of a bearded man in a crimson cap and exquisite 
brocaded robe, who stands at the door of a counting-house. 
This is a fine picture, but one which requires little descrip- 
tion. 

The other three panels represent the history of St. Jerome, 
a compatriot of the members of the fraternity, and trans- 
lator of the Bible into Latin. In spite of the critics, I 
cannot bring myself to believe that the first two canvases 
of this series are by Carpaccio ; both in treatment and in 
technique they seem to me wholly alien to his manner. 

In the first picture St. Jerome introduces his tame, 
obedient, and smiling lion to the monks of his monastery. 
The saint himself is bland and persuasive ; the monks, 
unused to such monsters, fly in terror ; their running, though 
full of movement, is awkwardly represented. The back- 
ground rather suggests the neighbourhood of Florence than 
Venetian architecture. 

The second picture represents the Burial of St. Jerome. 
The wasted body of the aged ascetic is laid on a terrace in 
the foreground ; he died at Bethlehem, and an attempt is 
given to impress this fact by the introduction of palm trees 
and of a strange animal tied to the one in the middle 
distance. A priest reads the burial service ; the monks, in 
blue and white robes, kneel around him*. 

The third picture, clearly by Carpaccio himself, represents 
*the Saint in his study translating the Scriptures. It should 
have occupied the previous panel. The contention of Mr, 
Ruskin and his collaborator that this picture represents St. 
Jerome in heaven seems to me quite untenable ; the subject 
is one commonly represented, and the treatment here 
contains many elements wholly inconsistent with this 
strange hypothesis. The saint is seated to the R., in a 
charming study, with his authorities open on the table and 
on the ground around him ; he is pausing for the exact 
Latin equivalent to some difficult Hebrew phrase. A mathe- 
matical instrument on the R. proves his deep astronomical 



X.] MINOR SIGHTS 247 

learning. The centre background is occupied by a dainty 
little niche, with a figure of the risen Christ, bearing the 
Resurrection banner. On the table is placed St. Jerome's 
abbot's mitre, and close by stands his crozier To the L. 
of this, a door gives a glimpse into a second charming 
chamber. To the extreme L., we see delicious furniture— a 
charming chair, a reading desk, and rolls of manuscripts laid 
on a shelf, above which is a brass sconce, and below, a shelf 
containing antique bric-d- b?'ac, v^ry inappropriate in heaven, 
but showing that Carpaccio envisaged the saint as a learned 
ecclesiastic Vv'ith the tastes of a cardinal of his own period. 
The antique curios include a bronze horse, a little bronze 
statuette, and three or four small black-and-yellow Greek 
vases, of the type erroneously called Etruscan, and found in 
tombs of the early Etruscan period. All the furniture of 
this delightful chamber may be closely noted ; its ceiUng 
somewhat resembles that of this very oratory. 

B. SAN ZACCARIA 

[The church of 5an Zaccaria well deserves a visit. It is 
reached from the Piazza by going as straight as you can go 
past the Patriarchal Palace, and over two bridges, till you 
reach a doorway with an inscription " Campo San Zaccaria." 
In the tympanum of this doorway is a fine reliefs in the style 
of the Massegne, representing, on the finial, St. Zacharias (?) 
blessing ; beneath. Our Lady and the Child, St. John the 
Baptist, son of St. Zacharias, and St. Mark the Evangelist. 
This was the ancient gate of a large and important Bene- 
dictine nunnery, to which the church belonged. The 
nunnery was established here from a very early date, and 
daughters of the noblest Venetian houses were enrolled 
among its numbers as abbesses and sisters. They had the 
privilege of presenting the Doge with his ducal cap : almost 
all the Doges from 837 to 11 72 were buried in their church.] 

The existing building was mainly erected by Martino 
Lombardo in 1457, but contains fragments of older work. 
Its fagade is a good specimen of early Renaissance architec- 



248 MINOR SIGHTS [X. 

ture, which should be compared with the closely similar ex- 
ample in the Scuola di San Marco. Notice the circular 
form given to the false gable, and to the blind portion or 
screen which joins nave and aisles. Over the entrance, out- 
side, is a statue of the patron saint, St. Zacharias (the priest, 
and father of St. John the Baptist), by Alessandro Vittoria. 
The campanile is Romanesque, 13th century. 

Enter the church. It has a striking interior. Over the 
holy water vessel to the R. of the entrance is a statuette of 
St. John the Baptist, by Alessandro Vittoria. 

The nave and aisles contain a large number of tolerable 
pictures, which space will not permit me to notice in full. 
The second altar in the L. aisle has a magnificent ^"^altar- 
piece by Giovanni Bellini in his later period, (1505,) repre- 
senting Our Lady and the Child, enthroned under a niche 
of a sort with which we are now familiar. To the R. stands 
St. Lucy, with long fair hair, holding a lamp and the palm 
of her martyrdom — a lovely figure in Bellini's most charming 
later manner. Beyond her is St. Jerome, as the father of 
the monastic life, reading in the Vulgate — a fine, virile, aged 
form, in a splendid red robe. To the L. are St. Catharine of 
Alexandria and St. Peter. As this is a nuns' church, promi- 
nence is rightly given to the graceful and tender female 
saints. This picture shows Bellini in a transitional stage to 
the later Renaissance manner ; it is, as Vasari justly called 
it, a modern picture. 

The altar just opposite this, in the R. aisle, has a gilt 
sarcophagus, interesting as containing thebody of the patron, 
St. Zacharias, father of St. John the Baptist, as its inscrip- 
tion relates. You will never thoroughly understand early 
churches unless you note the importance of such relics. 

The door on the R. beyond this gives access to the Nuns' 
Choir, separated here, as often elsewhere, from the main 
building, so that the nuns might sing unseen, as they still 
do at Santa Trinitk dei Monti at Rome. It is fitted up with 
good inlaid choir-stalls for the nuns, dating from 1460, On 
the R. wall in this choir is a Madonna, usually attributed to 
Palma Vecchio, but perhaps by Lorenzo Lotto ; it represents 



X.] MINOR SIGHTS 249 

Our Lady and the Child enthroned, with a musical angel ; 
on the L. are St. Bernard, St. Gregory the Pope, and St. 
Paul ; on the R. are St. Elizabeth of Hungary, holding her 
crown, as typical of those in high position who renounce the 
world for the monastic profession ; and, near her, St. Bene- 
dict, as founder of the order ; the young saint behind I can- 
not identify. Is he St. Tarasius ? 

Over the door is a tolerable and locally appropriate Tin- 
toretto of the Birth of St. John the Baptist, with St. Zacharias 
and St. Elizabeth ; this is a good piece of light and colour. 
The pictures to the R. and L. are by L. Bassano, the Funeral 
of the Virgin and the Assumption of the Virgin. I do not 
think they were painted for their present situation. The 
altar-piece is a touching Mater Dolorosa, attributed to Titian, 
a replica of the one painted for the Emperor Charles V. 

The Nave and Aisle belong to the Renaissance building ; 
the Apse is a relic of the older Gothic church, quaintly pre- 
served amid the newer architecture. 

The door in the ambulatory behind the Choir— locked, but 
opened by the Sacristan for a few sous — gives access to the 
^Cappella di San Tarasio, a saint whose body is preserved 
here. It is a good little Gothic building, with a fine vaulted 
apse, and it contains three "^magnificent early altar-pieces, 
in their original gilt tabernacle frames, very florid Gothic, of 
1444, due to the munificence of noble and wealthy ladies, 
whose names they bear and who were inmates of this 
convent. 

The *ancona, or tabernacle, which occupies the place of a 
High Altar, stands over the sarcophagus containing the body 
of St. Tarasius. It was the gift of Helena Foscari, and was 
intended to contain a relic of the Holy Cross. The old florid 
frame is intact, with its numerous figures of saints, of whom 
the one to the L. above, nearest to Our Lady, is the patron 
St. Zacharias, — compare with the much later wooden figure 
on the bracket close by ; the one to the R. below, crowned 
and holding the True Cross, is the Empress Helena, at once 
the discoverer of the relic and the name-saint of the donor ; 
the other figures are mainly virgin martyrs, Agnes, Catharine, 



250 MINOR SIGHTS [x. 

etc., as is usual in nunneries. The pictures were originally 
by Giovanni (da Allemagna) and Antonio Vivarini. St. 
Mark in the L. corner, and St. Blaise on the R., are still 
theirs ; the Madonna and the two other figures, St. Martin 
and St. Elizabeth, wife of St. Zacharias, have been so re- 
painted as to be practically modern. The older figures 
show the Cologne influence. 

The *altar- piece on the R. stands over the sarcophagus 
containing the remains of Saints Nereus and Achilleus and 
St. Pancras. It is the gift of Agnesina Giustiniani, as its 
inscription, dated 1443, narrates. Its wood- work represents, 
below, a Pietk to contain a relic ; above, the fainting figure 
of Our Lady ; higher still, the Resurrection. The paintings 
are again by Giovanni da Murano (da Allemagna) and 
Antonio Vivarini ; though much repainted, they still show 
the influence of the Cologne school. To the L. are St. 
Gregory the Pope and another saint (I think, St. Pancras) ; 
to the R. St. Nereus and St. Achilleus, whose bodies rest 
below in the sarcophagus. 

The ■^■^altar-piece on the L. is the gift of Margherita 
Donato, and is signed by Giovanni and Antonio da Murano 
(Vivarini). It represents, above, St. Margaret, the name- 
sake of the donor, and another female saint whom I fail to 
recognise ; below, in the centre, St. Sabina (whose body lies 
in the sarcophagus beneath, as the inscription testifies), with 
a face extremely recalling the school of Cologne ; L,, St. 
Jerome, with the church, book, and lion ; R., St. Icerius, 
with the instrument of his martyrdom. The garden at the 
back of these three last figures is full of the spirit of the 
Cologne school. The ancient part of all three altar-pieces 
ought to be carefully studied by any one who wishes to under- 
stand the half-German origin of Venetian painting. 

All the saints in this chapel are not oriental, as elsewhere 
at Venice, but Roman from the Coelian hill — a noteworthy 
peculiarity. 

Walk round the ambulatory. Near the end is the tomb 
of Alessandro Vittoria, with a bust of himself, by himself. 

The adjacent nunnery is now used as barracks. 



X.] MINOR SIGHTS 25 1 

C. THE PALLADIAN CHURCHES. 

[Andrea Palladio, of Vicenza (15 18-1580), was the last of 
the great Renaissance architects of Venice. His palaces are 
chiefly seen in his native town ; his churches in Venice. 
He aimed at classical simplicity, and attained a chilly, 
cheerless formality. He was practically the father of the 
17th and 1 8th centuries and of the " classical" mania. Pall- 
Mail derives from him. His churches here may be well 
compared and contrasted with the earlier and more decora- 
tive buildings of the Lombardi, of which we have seen fine 
examples at the Scuola di San Marco and San Zaccaria. 
They have a certain spacious stateliness of their own, though 
they foreshadow the decadence. The worst fault of Palladio's 
churches lies in the fact that he tried to apply the forms of 
the Greek or Roman temple — which was a single simple flat- 
roofed building, all of one height, — to the traditional require- 
ments of the Christian church, which is a complex building 
with high nave and lower aisles, usually intercepted by 
transepts. The endeavour to reconcile these conflicting 
types strikes the keynote of Palladio's church architecture.] 

{a.) San Giorgio Maggiore. 

On an island at the eastern extremity of Venice a Benedic= 
tine monastery in honour of St. George the Martyr ex- 
isted from a very early period. In mo, Doge Ordelafo 
Falier brought to it the body of St. Stephen the Protoinartyr 
(but he has other bodies elsewhere :) on which account sub- 
sequent Doges paid a yearly visit here on St. Stephen's day, 
The great church of this monastery was demolished in the 
i6th century, in order that Palladio might rebuild it (1560) 
in its existing form. The vast monastic buildings around, 
though still inhabited in part by a few Benedictine monks, 
are mostly given over to artillery barracks and other Govern- 
ment offices. The whole island was originally covered by 
these monastic buildings, the greatest in Venice. 

San Giorgio is best visited by gondola, though a steamer 
starts from the Riva every hour. 



252 MINOR SIGHTS [x. 

The exterior has a marble-coated fagade, (Scamozzi, 1575,) 
which well shows the attempt to combine nave and aisle 
with the classical form, the problem being here solved by 
means of a sort of double pediment harshly interrupted. 
The chief figures on the facade are appropriately those of 
St. George, R., and St. Stephen, L. 

The mterior is cold, bare, and repellently classical. It 
has, however, at least the merit of purity, being all in one 
style, as Palladio left it, unencumbered by later rococo 
additions. 

Over the door is a feeble portrait of the exiled Pope Pius 
VII., who was elected in this church by a conclave of fugi- 
tive cardinals in 1800, during the troubles which followed 
the French Revolution. 

Begin in the R. aisle, ist altar. Nativity, by J. Bassano. 
2nd altar, wooden Crucifix, by Michelozzo. 3rd altar, of 
St. Cosmo and Damian, the Martyrdom of the saints, by 
Tintoretto. Most of the Tintorettos in this church are in- 
ferior works : this curious and confused composition, a 
hasty painting, seems to combine the various elements of 
their long torture in one scene, together, perhaps, with the 
martyrdom of St. Sebastian. 

R. Transept. Altar of St. Benedict ; Tintoretto, Corona- 
tion of the Virgin, in the presence of St. Benedict in his 
black robes, to the L., with the book of his rule and his 
Abbot's crozier ; a Benedictine martyr, wounded in the 
head, and bearing the palm of his martyrdom, whom I do 
not identify ; Pope Gregory the Great, with the dove 
whispering at his ear ; and a Benedictine bishop ; below 
are a group of Benedictine fathers, donors of the picture. 

Altar beyond the Transept : Madonna and Child, with 
St. Scholastica, (a Benedictine nun,) and adoring donors, by 
Rizzi ; a feeble picture. 

In the Presbytery is the High Altar, with the figure of the 
Eternal Father (by Campagna) wearing a triangular halo 
(for the Blessed Trinity), and supported on a globe by the 
symbolic Evangelists. On the R. wall, the *Last Supper, 
by Tintoretto, one of his gloomiest pictures, chiefly relieved 



X.] MINOR SIGHTS 253 

by the fine luminous head of the Saviour, and by the group 
of angels in weird celestial light grouped around the cresset ; 
the domestic details to the R., with the fine effect of light 
on the face of the realistic serving-woman, are character- 
istic of Tintoretto's manner. On the L. wall, ^Gathering of 
the Manna, (also by Tintoretto,) always held to be typical 
of the Last Supper and of the Sacrifice of the Mass ; this is 
a fine piece of spacious and airy landscape, with very varied 
groups in Tintoretto's naturalistic manner. 

The monks' choir, behind the High Altar, has carved 
wooden seats, with an entire series of the usual scenes from 
the life of St. Benedict, by a fine wood-carver of the Flemish 
Renaissance school (1598)— note the dolphins, typical of the 
naval position of Venice ; also, the Twelve Apostles, bear- 
ing each the instrument of his martyrdom. 

Chapel beside the L. transept : the Resurrection, by 
Tintoretto, with the family of Doge Vincenzo Morosini as 
spectators of the mystery. Black and gold colouring. 
Above the door to the L., the Doge's monument. 

L. Transept : altar of St. Stephen, who is here, of course, 
a leading saint ; the altar-piece, by Tintoretto, represents 
his martyrdom, noticeable for the fine luminosity of the 
dying saint's head and face. Below, his remains, in a 
sarcophagus. 

L. aisle : ist altar, of the name- saint, St. George, bad 
altar-piece of his victory over the dragon. 2nd altar, 
colossal rococo statue of Our Lady and the Child, and 
fly-away angels, by Campagna. 3rd altar, of St. Lucy, 
altar-piece (by L. Bassano) of the saint dragged to martyr- 
dom by ropes and bullocks, which are miraculously unable 
to move her ; the painter, in order to mark his sense of the 
marvel, has employed a team of half-a-dozen at least for the 
purpose — a weak expedient. 

At the end of the aisle, monument of Doge Marcantonio 
Memmo. 

The campanile should be ascended for the sake of its 
beautiful "^^view over the lagoons and islands, perhaps the 
best to be obtained in Venice. (Easy mounting ; inclined 



254 MINOR SIGHTS [x. 

plane; quite clean.) One sees well from this point the 
position of the Lido and of the lagoon ; while the various 
mud-banks, channels, and islets are spread out like a map 
before you. It also affords a good bird's-eye view of the 
court-yard of the ancient monastery. 

The great Paolo Veronese of the Marriage at Cana, now 
in the Louvre, came from the Refectory of this wealthy 
monastery. 

{b.) The Redentore. 

In 1576, Venice was visited by a severe epidemic of 
plague, which carried off 50,000 persons in the city and 
lagoons. As a votive offering for preservation from this 
calamity the Republic determined to erect a church to the 
Redeemer. The edifice was built in 1577 by Palladio. It 
may be conveniently combined in one excursion with San 
Giorgio Maggiore. On the way to it, as you skirt the quay 
of the Qiudecca, you pass the front of the secularised 
church and convent of the Zitelle. 

The Redentore is a Franciscan church. 

The facade illustrates, still more strikingly than San 
Giorgio, the futile attempt to combine classical architecture 
with Christian necessities. Both churches, however, it must 
be admitted, form fine simple objects in distant views. 

The interior is even chillier and balder than San Giorgio, 
with ugly loopholes to admit the light. It contains but few 
objects of interest in its cold blank desert of 18th-century 
whitewash. 

R. aisle : ist altar, poor Nativity, by Francesco Bassano. 
3rd altar, Christ bound to the column, by Tintoretto. 

The High Altar, under the dome, has good late marble 
reliefs — in front, the Way to Calvary ; at the back, the 
Descent from the Cross, by Mazza da Bologna ; the figures 
of the two men prising open the sarcophagus in the last are 
characteristic of the late desire to show power of represent- 
ing violent movement. On the Altar itself, a Crucifixion, 
with St. Mark and St. Francis, patrons of the city and the 
order, by Campagna. 



X.] MINOR SIGHTS 255 

In the Sacristy^ behind the High Altar, are three beauti- 
ful ^Madonnas, of the school of Bellini, the particular 
attribution of which has been much debated. The loveliest 
and earliest is enclosed behind shutters, in an early frame ; 
it represents "^^Our Lady, in red, with the sleeping Child on 
a pillow upon her knees, attended by two exquisite little 
musical angels. On the parapet are the symbolical fruits 
so often represented in this subject ; above the green cur- 
tain appears the red-beaked goldfinch, connected by a well- 
known legend with the Crucifixion. This lovely work is now 
generally assigned to Alvise Vivarini. 

The ^second picture is later in date, and is now usually 
attributed to Bissolo ; it has Our Lady and the Child, be- 
tween St. Mark and St. Francis (city and order). 

The "^third, also a very beautiful picture, has Our Lady and 
the Child between the youthful St. John and St. Catharine. 
It is doubtfully assigned to Pasqualino. 

These three exquisite pictures form the real reason for a 
visit to this otherwise bare and uninteresting church. 

The altars in the L. aisle have only one picture of any 
interest, a weak Ascension, by Tintoretto, on the altar next 
the door. 



The picturesque canals of the Qiudecca, at the rear, are 
worth exploring in a gondola. They are crowded with fish- 
ing-craft and live-fish baskets. It may be worth while to 
add in passing that the word Giudecca has nothing to do 
with Jews, and that the Ghetto was never situated here— in 
spite of the inveterate error of English tourists. The island 
was and is the fishing suburb of Venice. 

D. THE RESIDUUM 

A visit may be made on some spare afternoon to San 
Pietro di Castello, (formerly St. Sergius and St. Bacchus,) 
the original cathedral of Venice. Ecclesiastically the town 
depended from the beginning upon the Patriarchate of 
Grado, (representative of the old Patriarchate of Aquileia,) 
but this church was the cathedral of the local Bishop of 



256 MINOR SIGHTS [x. 

Castello, first instituted in 1091. In 145 1 the seat of the 
Patriarchate was removed from Grado to this place. San 
Pietro, which stands on a separate island, may be reached 
on foot by going along the Riva and then following the 
broad, dry canal which runs northward past the Public 
Gardens ; the last bridge on the L. leads you down a 
narrow dirty street till you can see the campanile and 
church before you. The approach by land is so squalid, 
however, that I recommend you to go rather in a gondola. 

The campo in front of the church is spacious and im- 
posing. The campanile^ (a handsome building of 14745) 
unlike almost all others in Venice, is coated with white 
marble from top to bottom, and, in its long straight lines 
and fine proportions, is extremely stately. It retains the 
general tone of the Romanesque campanili. 

The facade of the church presents a good average speci- 
men of a Palladian design, 1596. The large building to the 
R. of the church, now a barrack, is the ancient patriarchal 
palace. The interior of the old cathedral contains little of 
interest except a handsome marble patriarchal chair, said to 
have been brought from Antioch. It is covered with ancient 
Arabic inscriptions from the Koran, in the old Cufic charac- 
ter. The third altar has a tolerable altar-piece by Marco 
Basaiti, representing the patron, St. Peter, enthroned. Under 
the High Altar lies the body of San Lorenzo Giustiniani, the 
first Patriarch of Venice. Behind it, in a niche, is a con- 
temporary statue of the saint, from which the features in 
later pictures appear to have been taken. 

This out-of-the-way church thus deserves a visit on 
account of its connection with the episcopate and patri- 
archate of Venice, the seat of which was only removed to 
St. Mark's in 1807, by Eugene Beauharnais, when Viceroy 
of Italy. 

The Museo Civico Gorrer, housed in the Fondaco del 
Turchi, I do not advise you to visit unless your time is very 
ample. The collection is not unlike those of the Musee de 
Cluny or the Bargello at Florence, but on a very poor scale ; 



X.] MINOR SIGHTS 257 

and much of it is uninteresting. In the cowf are some good 
specimens of Venetian well-heads, together with a colossal 
antique statue of M. Agrippa, the son-in-law of Augustus, 
said to have been brought here from the Pantheon at Rome, 
which Agrippa founded. The most famous object in the 
interior is a Carpaccio excessively praised by Ruskin — 
" the best picture in the world." It seems to me a feeble 
work, representing two Venetian courtesans on the roof of 
their house, surrounded by their pets. There are also a 
good Transfiguration by Mantegna ; a dry Pietci by Cosimo 
Tura ; and another by Giovanni Bellini. But none of these 
works is sufficiently important to take you out of your way, 
unless your time is very free. You will find other far more 
notable works in the minor churches. 

F'oremost among these (in illustrative value) I would place 
San Francesco della Vigna, a large rambling church in 
the north-eastern quarter, hard of access, and best ap- 
proached by gondola direct. It is Franciscan, of course, 
and is said to occupy the precise spot where St. Mark 
landed on his way from Aquileia, and had his famous 
dream that his body should finally rest in these islands. 
Its great gem (to my mind) is its lovely "^^Madonna by Fra 
Antonio da Negroponte, a httle-known Paduan artist, about 
1450 — perhaps the most strangely neglected among the 
wonderful pictures of Venice. In calm dignity and graceful 
charm of colour this glorious Madonna has few equals ; yet 
nobody visits it. It stands on the R. wall of the right tran- 
sept. The left transept gives access to the Cappella Santa, 
whose altar-piece is a "^Madonna with Saints Sebastian, 
Jerome, John Baptist, and Francis, by Giovanni BeUini, 
much retouched ; this is a good work, but not to be named 
in the same day with the delicious Negroponte. I may add 
that Francis, Jerome, and John the Baptist are important 
saints in this church ; Franciscan doges and persons named 
Francesco are much commemorated in it. The Cappella 
Giiistinianiy left of the choir, has a good sculptured altar- 
piece by the Lombardi, with St. Jerome and other appro- 
priate saints, and scenes in relief from the life of St. Jerome, 

G.V. R 



258 MINOR SIGHTS [x. 

comprehensible after you have seen San Giorgio degli 
Schiavoni. The 2nd altar in the left aisle is a plague altar, 
with statues by Vittoria of St. Roch, St. Sebastian, and 
St. Antony Abbot. Altogether, for those who have time to 
examine it, this is one of the most interesting minor churches 
in Venice. With the hints here given, you will understand 
most of it. 

Several other churches are mainly famous for a single picture. 

Santa Maria Formosa, a very old foundation, but with a 
building of little interest, is visited chiefly for one superb 
Palma Vecchw, doubtless the finest thing its master ever 
painted — a "^"*Santa Barbara erect between four other saints. 
Owing to her legendary connection with towers, St. Barbara 
became the patroness of artillery and fortification ; and this 
altar (the first on the right) was that of the guild of Bombar- 
dieri, who thus commemorated their chosen lady. The 
cannon at St. Barbara's feet bear out the allusion. She is 
represented as a singularly queenly and beautiful woman, 
with a noble carriage of the head and throat ; crowned as 
princess with a most military crown, and holding in her 
hand the palm of her martyrdom. Her robe is glorious. 
Nothing more stately or majestic ever proceeded out of the 
later school of Venice. The other saints are, R., St. Antony 
and St. Dominic; L., St. Sebastian and St. John Baptist. 
In the lunette, a Piet^. The church has many other in- 
teresting pictures. 

Near the Rialto Bridge stands the church of San 
Giovanni Crisostomo. You may look in as you pass 
some day to see the finest Giovanni Bellini hitherto unmen- 
tioned. It occupies the first altar on the R., and represents 
*St. Jerome reading, flanked by St. Christopher (L.) and St. 
Augustine (R.) This is Bellini's last work, dated 1513, irr 
his 87th year, — but it is still firm and vigorous. Almost 
equally fine is an exceptionally noble "^Sebastiano del 
Pix)mbo, representing the patron of the church, St. John 
Chrysostom, and therefore occupying the place of honour on 
the High Altar. The great Greek Father — a good instance 
of the survival of Bvzantine hagiology in Venice — is seated 



X.] MINOR SIGHTS 259 

in an open portico, reading and transcribing. Close by, his 
patron, St. John the Baptist, gazes at him with fatherly 
affection. Behind stand St. Augustine and San Liberale. 
On the left are three beautiful female saints — Catharine, 
with her wheel, Lucy, with her lamp, and Mary Magdalen, 
with her pot of ointment, as if entering suddenly. This is a 
fine example of the later informal arrangement of the Santa 
Conversazione, and it is also a good specimen of Sebastianc 
del Piombo's early Giorgionesque manner, before he came 
under the influence of Michael Angelo. It is thoroughly 
Venetian in type, and its drawing and colouring recall 
Giorgione. The luxurious women saints are specially 
characteristic of Sebastiano, and are obviously laying them- 
selves out, not to be saintly, but to be attractive and charm- 
ing. The chapel to the left of the choir has yet another St. 
John Chrysostom, (perhaps by Mansueti,) accompanied by 
St. Onofrio, St. Andrew, and St. Agatha. 

Just over the water, beyond the Rialto Bridge, is the 
church of St. John the Almsgiver, 5an Giovanni Elemo= 
sinario— an Alexandrian saint, who was adopted by Venice 
in the days of her close intercourse with Egyptian Christ- 
endom. Its High Altar has a famous picture by Titian, 
representing the patron, San Giovanni, Patriarch of Alex- 
andria, distributing alms, which a beggar is receiving. It is 
a fine piece of colouring, with Titian's characteristic man- 
nerism of attitude. The chapel to the R. of the High Altar 
has also a good Pordenone, a plague-picture, St. Roch as 
chief plague-patron, between St. Sebastian and St. Catharine 
of Alexandria. 

The church of the Pieta on the Riva degli Schiavoni is 
chiefly visited for its very fine Moretto, behind the High 
Altar, ■'^Christ in the House of Simon the Pharisee. This 
noble and graceful picture shows us Moretto as the origina- 
tor of that palatial, lordly, splendid, non-religious mode of 
treating these festal subjects, which was afterwards carried 
to so unpleasant an extreme by Paolo Veronese. Like most 
of its class it was originally the decoration of a refectory — ; 
that of the convent of San Fermo at Monselice. 



26o MINOR SIGHTS [x. 

San Vitale, near the Iron Bridge which leads to the 
Academy, has, in the choir behind the High Altar, a famous 
Carpaccio, representing the patron, San Vitale, the martyr of 
Ravenna, on horseback. Close by is his wife, Valeria, with 
St. John the Baptist, St. James, and St. George. Separated 
from these saints by a high screen are San Vitale's two 
sons, St. Gervasius and St. Protasius, attended by St. Peter 
and St. Andrew. Above, in clouds, the Madonna in glory 
gazes down upon the martyr. 

The church of San Simeone Grande, not far from the 
railway station, is mainly noticeable for a very noble 
**tomb of the namesake prophet, whose remains rest within 
it. The effigy of the saint, by one Marco the Roman, 
(13 1 7,) is a splendid work of Gothic sculpture. It should 
be compared with that of St. Isidore in St. Mark's, and that 
of Doge Andrea Dandolo. 

I do not recommend a visit to the remote church of the 
Madonna dell' Orto, except for those who are specially 
attracted by Tintoretto. These will probably take Ruskin 
for their guide. The church contains *'^three of the finest 
Tintorettos in Venice, and is further interesting as being 
the great painter's own parish church — his house standing 
almost opposite. But those who are not special Tintoretto 
worshippers will find equally good examples of the master 
elsewhere ; and the Madonna delP Orto is remote and 
difficult of access. It has also a very fine Cima, — an altar- 
piece of his own patron, St. John the Baptist, on a pedestal 
between Saints Paul and Jerome, and Saints Peter and 
Mark. Likewise, an admirable Palma Vecchio of St. 
Stephen with a little court of attendant saints. 

I do not wish it to be thought that even this final list by 
any means exhausts the objects of interest at Venice — nay, 
even the objects of high aesthetic value. Other works of 
the first importance meet one at every turn. Such are the 
four splendid "^^Greek lions at the gate of the Arsenal, 
Titian's Annunciation in the church of San Salvatore, the 
famous landscape by Giorgione in the Palazzo Qiovanelli, 
(admission by private introduction only,) the Martyrdom 
of St. Lawrence by Titian in the church of the Gesuiti, 



X.] MINOR SIGHTS 26 1 

Cima's beautiful Baptism of Christ in San Giovanni in 

Bragora, and the charming Renaissance spiral staircase 
known as the Scala Minella in the Corte del Maltese. 
But Venice is of course inexhaustible, and my object in 
this work is not so much to mention all its artistic treasures 
as to put the tourist on the right road for appreciating those 
most salient features which his time permits him to see. 
Any indefatigable traveller who finds he can adequately 
examine all that is recommended in this book, and yet has 
leisure for more extended researches, may turn with advan- 
tage to Karl Karoly's excellent little work on The Paintitigs 
of Venice^ where most of the principal objects unconsidered 
here meet with due notice. 



One last word as to Excursions. Of these, by far the 
most important is that to Torcello. Steamers go frequently ; 
(see the handbills of the moment ;) but as a rule they spend 
a whole hour uselessly at Burano^ an uninteresting place, 
with the object of inducing visitors to inspect a lace-factory, 
and buy lace. Those who prefer early art had better 
instantly engage one of the rough little gondolas which 
clamour for hire at the landing-place of Burano, the mo- 
ment the steamer arrives, and get themselves ferried across 
without delay to Torcello. They will thus secure a double 
advantage ; not only will they have a longer time to ex- 
amine the very interesting Cathedral of Torcello, but they 
will also see it before the main crowd of tourists arrives — a 
matter of great moment, as the key-note of Torcello is its 
strange and weird desolation. 

Next to Torcello in importance comes Murano, the archi- 
tecture of whose Cathedral should be compared with that of 
Torcello. A delightful excursion is that to Padua by the 
steamer to Ftisi7ta^ and thence by steam tramway, return- 
ing by rail. The picturesque trip to Chioggia is chiefly 
interesting for the glimpse which it gives one of the lagoons 
and their shipping. 

Yet when all is said and done,— St. Mark's, the Doge's 
Palace, the Academy, the Grand Canal, are the first and 
last word of the visitor to Venice. 



APPENDIX 

LATIN INSCRIPTIONS OF THE FACADE AND 
ATRIUM OF ST. MARK'S 

FA9ADE. 
Over the Mosaic of the Reception of the Body. 

Corpore suscepio gatideiit modulamine recto ; 
Currentes latum venerantur konore locafum. 

Over the 13th Century Mosaic. 
Collocat hunc dignis plebs laiidibiis et colit hytnnis^ 
Ut VeJietos semper servet ab hoste stws. 

Over the lunettes above. 

1. De cruce descendo^ sepeliri cum nece tendo ; Quae 
mea sit vita, jam surgam morte relita {relicta). 

2. Visitat inferniim regnum pro dando supernum 
Patribus antiquis, dimissis Christus iiiiquis. 
Qiiis, fractis portis, spoliat me campio fortis ? 

3. Crimina qui purgo triduo de morte resurgo^ 
Et mecum multi ditdum rediere sepulti. 

En verus fortis qui fregit vincula mortis. 

4. Sum victor mortis, regno super aethera fortis^ 
Plausibus angelicis, laudibus et melicis. 

Atrium. 
Over the main door. 
A lapis Marce delicta precantibus arce, 
Ut surgant per te, factore suo miserante. 



APPENDIX 263 

Lunette. 

Spoftsa Deo gigno natos ex Virgine Virgo, 
Qiios fragiles firnio fortes super yEthera niitto. 

Round the Evangelists. 
Ecdesiae Christi vigiles sunt quatuor isti^ 
Quorum dulce melos sojtat et inovet undique coelos 

1ST Division. 

In principio creavit Dens coeliim et terrain. — Spiritus Do- 
mini ferebatur super aquas. — Appellavitque lucem die?n et 
tenebras noctem. — Fiat firmamentum in medio aquarum. 

Fia7tt Ituniiiaria in firmajnento coeli. Dixit etiam Do- 
minus : producant aquae reptile am?nae viventis et volatile 
uper terramj jiuneitta et omnia reptilia in genere suo. 

Faciamus hominein adimagiiiem et similitudinem nostram. 
— Et benedixit diei septimo. — Et inspiravit in faciein ejus 
spiraculum vitae. — Etiam posuit in medio paradisi (lignum 
vitae) lignumque scientiae. 

Appellavitque Adam nominibus suis cnncta animantia. — 
Cujnque obdormisset, tulit tmam de costis ejus et replevit 
carnem pro ea, et adduxit eam ad Adam. — Hie serpens 
loquitur Evae et decipit eam. — Hie Eva accipit pomum et 
dat viro suo. — Hie Adam et Eva cooperiunt se foliis. — Hie 
Dominus vocat Adam et Evam lateiites se post arbores. 
— Hie Dominus increpat Adam. — ipse monstrat uxor em 
fuisse causam. — Hie Dominus maledieit serpenti cum Adam 
et Eva ante se existentibus. — Hie Do/niiius vestit Adam et 
Evam. — Hie expellit eos de paradiso. — Hie incipiunt labo- 
rare. 

Round the Cherubim in the pendentives. 

Hie ardet Cherubin Christi jlainmata calore^ 
Semper et aeterni soils radiata nitore. 
Mystica slant Cherubim alas monstrantia senas, 
Quae Dominum laudant, voces promendo seretias. 

At the end. 
Crescite et multiplicamini et replete terram. 
Hie peperit. 
Chris tus Abel cernit j Kayn et sua munera spernit. 



264 APPENDIX 

Egrediarnur foras. Cumgue essent in agro, consurrexit 
Cain adversus fi^atrem, snum et interfecit euin. 

Dixitqiie Do7Jiinus ad Cain : quid fecisti ? Ecce vox 
sanguinis fratris tui clamat ad me de terra. 

Dixitque Cain ad Dominum: major est iniquitas mea 
quam ut veniam merea?, 

2ND Division. 

Dixitqtce Dominus ad Noe : Fac tibi arcam de lignis levi- 
gatis : trecentorum cubiiorum erit lojigitudo arcae, quinqua- 
ginta cubitorum erit latitudo et triginta erit altitudo illius. 
— Tulit ergo Noe de anima7ttibus et de volucribtcs, mundis et 
immundis^ et ex omni quod movetur super terram, duo et duOy 
masculum et feminam^ etingressi sunt ad eu7n i7i arca7n sicut 
p7''aecepe7'at ei Do7ni7ius. — l7i artiaclo Diei ingf^essus est Noe, 
Se7n, Cha7n et Japhet, filii ejus et uxores filiorum ejus, ciun 
eis in arca7n. Factumque est diluviimt quadraginta diebus 
super t err a7netqui7idecim cubitis altiorfuit aqua super 77iontes. 
— Cu77ique consu7npta esset 077inis ca7'o super terra77t, e7nisit 
Noe colu7nba77i. — At ilia ve7iit ad etmi portans ra77ium olivae 
in ore et intellexit Noe quodcessassent aquae diluvii. — Pona77i 
arcu7n in 7iubibus et erit in signu7n foede7'is ut no?t si7tt ultra 
aquae diluvii. — Noe ob tulit holocaustu7n Do7nino post dilu- 
viu7)t. 

3RD Division. 

Noe^ post exittan arcae de diluvio, plantavit vinea7n, bi- 
bensque vimwt i7iebriatus est et 7iudatus in tabernaculo suo. 
Quod cu7n vidisset Cha7n pater Cha7iaan verenda patris sui 
esse nudata, nunciavit duobus suis fratribus forisj at vero 
Sem et Japhet paliu7n i77iposuerunt humeris suiset incedentes 
retrorsu77i cooperuerunt verenda patris sui, faciei7ique eoru7n 
aversae erant et pat7'is vij'ilia 7t07t viderunt. — Evigilans 
aute77i Noe ex vi7io, cu77i didicisset quae fecerat ei filius suus 
i7ti7tor, ait : 7naledictiis Cha7taa7i servus servoru77i erit f7'-a- 
tribus suis. — Dies autein Noe 7ionge7itorum quinquaginta 
annoru7n et 77iortuus est. 

Post 7}iorte7n vero Noe dixerunt gentes : venite facia7nus 



APPENDIX 265 

nobis civitatem et turrim cujus admen pertingat ad coelum. 
Quod intuens Dominies^ ait : venite videre civitatem et tur- 
rim quam aedificojit filii Adam et dixit ecce unus est populus 
et unum labium omnibus^ venite et descendamus et confunda- 
mus lingiiam eorum ut non aitdiat unusguisque vocem proxi- 
7ni sui. Atque ita divisit eos Dominus ex illo loco in imi- 
versas terras et cessaverunt aedijicare turrim, 

4TH Division. 

Dixit que Dominus ad Abram : Egredere de terra tua et 
vefti in terrain quam monstravero tibi j tulitque uxorem 
suam et Loth filium fratris sui ut irent in terram Chanaan. 
— Septuaginta quoque annorum erat Abram^ cum egreder- 
etur de Aran. — Cum audisset Abram captum Loth^ numeravit 
trece-ntos decern et octo expeditos vernaculos et persecutus est 
eos; et reduxit Loth et omnem substantiam. — At vero Mel- 
chisedech rex Salem proferens patiem et vinum, erat eniin 
sacerdos Dei altissimi, benedixit ei. — Dixitque rex Sodo?n- 
orum ad Abram : Da mihi animas et coetera tolle tibi. Qui 
respondit ei : Levo manum meam ad Domiftmn Deum excel- 
sum possessorem coeli et terrae. — Ingredere ad a?tcilla??t meain 
si forte saltem ex ilia sicscipiain filios. — Dixitque angelus 
Domini ad Agar ancillam Sarai: Revertere ad dominant 
tuam, — Peperitque Agar A brae filium qui vo cavil no men 
eius Ismael.— Dixit Dominus: Ne ultra vocabitiir nomen 
tuum Abram sed Abraham. Dixit iterum Dominus ad 
Abraha7n: circumcidite ex vobis omne masculinum ct cir- 
cumcidetis carnem preputii vestri. hifans octo dierum cir- 
cumcidetur in vobis. 

About the Prophets. 

Annunciate in geiitibus et auditum facile^ levate signum^ 

praedicate et nolite celare. 
Ecce vir ductus lineis et renes eiu^ accincti auro obrizo. 
Filios enutrivi et exaltavi^ ipsi vero spf^everunt me. 
Linguam tuam adhaerere faciatn palato tuo^ quia domus 

exasperans. 



266 APPENDIX 

At the sides. 

Cum sederet in ostio tabernacuU sui^ apparuerunt ei tres 
viri et adoravit et dixit. 

Tulitque butyriini et lac et mtiihmi quern coxerat^ et posuit 
coram eisj et ipse stabat juxta eos sub arbor e. Cui dixit: 
Revertens veniam ad te tempore isto^ et habebit filium Sara 
uxor tuaj quae risit post ostiimi tabernaculi. 

Visitavit autem Dominus Saram^ sicut prbmiserat, et im- 

ptevit quae locutus estj concepitque, et peperit ei filiujn in 

setiectute sua^ tempore quo praedixerat ei Deus. Vocavitque 

Abraham nomen ejus Ysaac. Et circumcidit eum octavo 

die. 

Over the arch. 

Signat Abram Christum., qui, gentis spretor hebraee 

Transiit ad gentes, et sibi junxit eas. 

5TH Division. 
Hie vidit Joseph somnium manipulorum et solis et lunae 
et undecim stellarum. — Hie Joseph narrat Jratribus suis 
sojimium. — Hie pater eius inc7'epavit eum de narratione 
somnii. — Hie Joseph missus erravit in agro et vidit virum 
unum et inferrogavit eum de fratribus suis. — Ecce somniator 
venit: occidainus eum. — Hie Joseph mittitur in cisternam, et 
cojnedentibus fratribus, viderunt mercatores venire. — Hie 
extraxerwit eurn de cisterna. — Hie vendiderunt Joseph 
Hismaelitis XX argenteis. — Hie ducitur Joseph in JEgypium 
a mercatoribus. — Hie Ruben non invenit Joseph in cisterna. 
— Hie est denuntiatio mortis Joseph, et Jacob pater eius 
plorat. 

About the Prophets. 

\(^ui\ honorijicaverit me, honorijlcabo eum [qtii] contemnent 
me, ego abjiciam, dicit Dominus. 

Melior est obedientia qua?n victimae ; super bonos delecta- 
tur Dominus et non super sacrijicia. 

Haec dicit Dominus : non recedet gladius de doino tua in 
sempiternmn. Ecce suscitabo super te malum de domo tua. 

. . . ht judicium posuisti eum; et fortem ut corriperes^ 
fundasti. 



APPENDIX 267 

Intrent securi^ veniam quia sunt habituri 
OfUfies confessi qui non sunt crimine pressi. 

Under the arch. 

Radix omnium bonorum charitas. 
Christophori sancti speciem qicicumque tuehir^ 
Illo 7iempe die nullo languore tenetur. 

6th Division. 

Hie Hismaelitae vendunt Joseph Putiphar eunucho Pha- 
raonis in /Egypto, — Hie Eunuehus tradit omnia bona sua in 
potestate Joseph. — Hie dicit uxor Putiphar loseph : dor mi 
meeum. — Hie loseph relicto pallio in manu mulieris ficgit. — 
Hie mulier videns se delusam^ oste?idit pallium loseph omni- 
bus de domo sua. — Hie Putiphar po?tit loseph in eareere. — 
Plie Pharao jubet poni in eareere pineemam et pis tor em. — 
Hie pineerna et pistor existentes in eareere vident somnia. — 
Hie loseph interpretatus est pineernae et pistori somnia quae 
viderunt. 

Hie Pharao restituit pineernam in officittm suum. — Hie 
Pharao pistor em feeit suspendi in patibulo. — Hie Pharao 
vidit per somnium septem boves pingues et septejn maeras 
confeetas, et maerae devoraverimt pi?igues. 

Hie vidit per somnium septem spieas ift eulmo uno plenas 
et formosaSj et alias septem spieas tenues et vaeuas, quae 
devoraverimt priores pletias. — Hie Pharao quaerit interpre- 
tationem somniorum a sapientibus suis. — Hie pineerna dieit 
Pharaoni qualiter Joseph dixerat sibi et pistori eventum 
somniorum suorum. 

Somnia quae vidit Pharao Joseph rcseravit: 
Collegit segetes, populis quas participavit. 

7TH Division. 
Hie Jaeob praeeepit decern filiis suis ut irent in ALgyptum 
causa emendi frtimentum. — Hie Joseph eongregavit fratres 
suos et dure loquens eis posuit custodiae tribus diebus. — Hie 
fratres Joseph loquuti sunt ifivicejn : merito haee pati?nur^ 
quia peceavimus in fratrem nostrum. Et Joseph averiit 
se et planxit. — Hie Joseph i us sit Simeon ligari fratribus 



268 APPENDIX 

praesentibuSj et peciiniam singulorum reddi. — Hie Joseph 
redacfas segetes in manipulos jiissit eongregari in horrea 
^gypti. — Hie AseeneSy uxor losepji^ peperit Ephraim 
seeundum Jilium. — Hie populus clamavit ad Pharaonem 
alimenta petetts j quibus respondit : ite ad Joseph. — Hie 
aperuit Joseph horrea immejisa^ et vendebat ^gyptiis. 

Hie Jacob mittit Beniamiti eum aliis filiis suis in 
jEgyptum. — Evacuantes saeeos frtanento, reeeperunt pecu- 
niam in ore sua. — Hie Joseph recipit Beniamin fratrem suum 
uterinu7n. 

Ut Deus hie par cat tumiilatis^ qui legis^ ora : 
Et te salvabit si sanctos ejus honoras. 

8th Division. 

Hie filia Pharaonis jubet to Hi infantulum Moysen de 
flumine. — Hie Moyses virum j^gyptium pereutientem He- 
braeimi oecidit et abscondit sabulo. — Hie Moyses, altero die^ 
redargiiens Hebraeum faeientem injuriam alteriy audivit : 
Numquid oecidere tu me vis ? Et timuit et ivit in terram 
Madian. — Hie filiae saeerdotis Madiam venerunt adaquare 
greges fatris. — Hie Moyses^ defensis piiellis de manu pas- 
toru7n, adaquavit oves earum. — Hie juravit Moyses habitare 
eum saeerdote Madian. — Hie Moyses veniens ad montem 
Oreb vidit rubum ardentem et non eomburebatur j et solvit 
calceamentiim de pedibus. 

Mane pluit ?nanna, eeeidit quoque sero coiurnixj 
Bis silicem ferity hine affltcit largissima plebi. 

Over the end door. 

Supplicet, o Christe, pro nobis Virgo Maria^ 
Evangelistae simul hii duOj smmna Sophia. 



INDEX 



Abraham, mosaics of, 41. 
Academy, the, 120-175. 
Altars in St. Mark's, 68, 71. 
Altinum, 13, 14, 16. 
Ancona or tabernacle, 249. 
Antiquities, 18, 27, 195-197, 257. 
Apostles, mosaics of, 50, 61. 
Archaeological Museum, 194, 
Ascension, mosaics of the, 59. 
Atrium of St. Mark's, 26, 38-45. 
Bacchus and Ariadne, the, 179. 
Baldacchino, 65, 68. 
Baptistery, the, 47, 52. 
Basaiti, Marco, 154. 
Bassano, 164, 174, 185. 
Bellini, Gentile, 144-147. 
Bellini, Giovanni, 130-136, 150, 

187, 232, 248, 257. 
Bissolo, 156, 255. 
Boccaccio Boccaccino, 134. 
Bonifazio, Hall of, 166-175. 
Bordone, Paris, 170-172. 
Bridge of Sighs, the, 94. 
Bronze Horses at St. Mark's, 26, 

27. 57. 
Bronzes, collection of, 195. 
Browning, residence of, 201. 
Busts, collection of, 195, 196. 
Byron, residence of, 211. 
Byzantine Christ, 47, 53, 71. 
Byzantine influence, 17-21, 24. 
Byzantine Venice, 23-84. 
Ck d'Oro, the, 208. 
Cain and Abel, mosaics of, 40. 
Campanile, the, 99. 
Canal, the Grand, 198-214. 
Canova, tomb of, 239. 
Capitals of columns, 89, 92. 
Cappella dei Mascoli, the, 55. 
Cappella di Sant' Isodoro, the, 

80-82. 
Cappella di San Tarasio, the, 249. 
Cappella Zen, the, 51-53. 
Carpaccio, Vittore, 138-143, 146, 

151, 157, 244-247, 257, 260. 
Cathedral, the former, 255. 
Chair of St. Mark, the, 83. 
Cima da Coneghano, 132, 133, 

134, 136, 149, 260, 261. 
Clement, St., chapel of, 75. 
Clock Tower, the, 97, 98. 
Colleoni, Bartolommeo, 218. 
Constantinople, conquest of, 17. 
Creation, mosaics of the, 39. 
Crivelli, 158. 



Crypt of St. Mark's, the, 83. 

Cufic inscriptions, 256. 

Dandolo, Andrea, 47, 51. 

Dandolo, Enrico, 17. 

Dogana di Mare, the, 198. 

Doge, The, 15. [197. 

Doge's Palace, the, 85-102, 176- 

Dominican church, 215-229. 

Don Carlos, residence of, 200. 

Dungeons, 197. 

Duse, residence of, 199. 

Dutch pictures, 159. 

Etruscan element, 13. 

Fade, the, 178. 

Flagstaffs, 100. 

Flemish pictures, 160. 

Fondaco de' Turchi, the, 205. 

Font, 51. 

Frari, the, 229-239. 

Friars' churches, 215-240. 

Friuli, Painters of, 159. 

Gallery of St. Mark's, 56-64. 

George, St., 22, 34. 

German influence, 121. 

Giorgione, 260. 

Giovanni Alamanno, 121, 123, 

129, 250. 
Giudecca, the, 255. 
Gothic art, 19, 24, 85. 
Gothic Venice, 85-96. 
Granite columns, 83. 
Greek Fathers, 50. 
Greek influence, 18, 69. 
Greek lions, 260. [70. 

Greek spoils, 17, 18, 27, 37, 38, 
Herodias' daughter, mosaics of, 
Jacobello del Fiore, 123, 126. [49. 
Jewellery, 69-71. 
John the Baptist, mosaics of, 48. 
Joseph, mosaics of, 42, 43. 
Lagoons, 14. 

Latin Fathers, 51. [203. 

Layard, Sir A. H., residence of, 
Leonard, St., mosaics of, 63. 
Leopardi, Alessandro, 100, 218, 

222, 239. 
Lepanto, battle of, 161. 
Library, in Doge's Palace, 194. 
Libreria Vecchia, The, 98. 
Lido, The, 14. 
Lion of St. Mark, 21, 84. 
Loggetta, the, 99. 
Lombardi, the, 97, 113, 115, 223. 
Lorenzo Veneziano, 125. 
Lotto, Lorenzo, 225. 



270 



INDEX 



Madonna del Orto, church of 
the, 260. [133. 

Madonna 01 the Two Trees, the, 
Malamocco, 14, 15, 16. [35-. 

Manin, Daniele, monument of, 
Mantegna, 132, 257. 
Maps, collection of, 195. [67. 

Massagne, sculpture by the, 65, 
Merceria, the, 98. 
Montagna, Bartolommeo, 155. 
Moretto, 174, 259. 
Morosini, tomb of Doge, 221. 
Mosaics, 30, 33, 38, 39, 44, 46, 
47. 48, 55. 61, 71, 73. 74. 81, 
82, 221. 
Moses, mosaics of, 44. 
Murano, 20, 21, 261. 
Museo Civico Correr, 256. 
Negroponte, Fra Antonio da, 257. 
Noah, mosaics of, 41, 
Nuova Fabbrica, the, 102. 
Oriental influence, i-j, 25. 
Our Lady, mosaics of, 55 ; 
miraculous portrait of, 65 ; 
legends of, 59. 

Palazzo Bembo, 210. 

Palazzo Contarini-Fasan, 213. 

Palazzo da Mosto, 208. 

Palazzo DonA, 202. 

Palazzo Farsetti, 210. 

Palazzo Loredan, 210. 

Palazzo Priuli, 204. 

Pala d'Oro, the, 67-71. 

Palladio, churches by, 251-255. 

Palma Veechio, 169, 170, 174, 
258, 260. 

Palma the Younger, 182, 183, 193. 

Paradise, the, 188. 

Patriarchal throne, 71. 

Patron saints, 21, 22. 

Pavement, mosaics, 46, 

Pepin, 15, 16. 

Peter, St. , chapel of, 75. 

Piazza, the, 97-102. 

Piet^, church of the, 259. 

Pietra del Bando, 37. 

Plague-churches, 103- 119. 

Ponte di Rialto, 203, 209. 

Pordenone, 173. 

Porta dei Fiori, 36, 

Porta della Carta, 92. [73. 

Presbytery of St. Mark's, 29, 67- 

Procuratie Nuove, the, loi. 

Procuratie Vecchie, the, 97. 

Prophets, mosaics of, 72. 

Pulpits, in St. Mark's, 66. 

Redentore, the, 254. 



Reliefs, 31, 32, 35, 38, 46, 54, 80, 

221. 
Renaissance art, 19. 
Renaissance Venice, 97-102. 
Rialto, the, 16, 209, 
Rivo Alto, 15, 16, 198. 
Royal Palace, the, loi. 
Sacristy of St. Mark's, the, 82. 
St. Mark, mosaics of, 53, 61, 73, 

74. 146. [146. 

St. Mark's, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23-84. 
St. Sebastian, Church of, 116-119. 
Salute, the, 104-107. 
San Giobbe, church of, 112-115, 
San Giorgio degli Schiavoni, 242- 

247. 
San Giorgio Maggiore, 251-254, 
San Giovanni Chrisostomo, 258. 
San Giovanni Elemosinario, 259. 
San Gregorio, monastery of, 107. 
San Pietro di Castello, 255, 
San Rocco, chvirch of, 107-112. 
San Simeone Grande, 260. 
Sansovino, 98, 99, 177, 185. 
San Vitale, 260. 
San Zaccaria, 247-250. 
Sant' Alvise, church of, 115. 
Santa Maria Formosa, 258. 
Scala dei Giganti, the, 95. 
Scala d'Oro, the, 177. 
Scala Minella, 261. 
Scuola della Carita, the, 120, 122, 
Scuola di San Giovanni Evangel- 

ista, 144, 239. 
Scuola di San Marco, 219. 
Scuola di San Rocco, 107-111. 
Scuola di Sant' Ursula, 140. 
Sketches, collection of, 153. 
Theodore, St., 22, 23, 34. 
Tiepolo, tomb of Doge, 220. 
Tintoretto, 106, 108-111, 151, 

162-164, 167, 178, 179, 180, 

181, 182, 183, 184, 187, 188, 

192, 252, 253, 260. 
Titian, 105, 106, 112, 129, 149, 

164, 170, 178, 231, 237, 259, 
Torcello, 14, 15, 21, 261. [260. 
Treasury of St. Mark's, the, 82. 
Vendramin, tomb of Doge, 223. 
Veronese, Paolo, 116-119, 149, 

160-166, 180, 192. 
Vivarini, the, 121, 124, 129, 131, 

137. 138, 224, 231, 236. 
Wagner, residence of, 207. 
Winged Lion of St. Mark, 21, 84. 
Zecca, The, 99. 
Zen, tomb of Cardinal, 54. 



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272 MEMORANDA 



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